Driving factors of social policy diffusion in China: an event history analysis of public rental housing policy adoption

ABSTRACT

Many studies have investigated the forces driving policy adoption. However, the process by which China’s social policies diffuse remains unclear. This study addressed this research gap by developing hypotheses that incorporated insights from competitive theories about policy diffusion. Applying the event history analysis method to data from 2008 to 2021, we found that factors such as administrative pressure, economic development, and housing investment impacted China’s Public Rental Housing Policy (PRHP) adoption more significantly than other factors like neighbour effect and leadership mobility. This study contributes to the theoretical literature on policy adoption by examining multiple competing research hypotheses.

KEYWORDS:

• Public rental housing policy
• policy adoption
• administrative pressure
• economic standing
• housing investment

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant Number 18CGL037), and the Shandong Social Science Fund Youth Project (Grant Number 18DZZJ01).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. It refers to the process of policy adoption from a place to the whole state.

2. The project system, as an incremental part of new dual system, aims to break the obstacles of the existing bureaucratic system in the form of special transfer payment of the state revenues, so as to guarantee the delivery of public services.

3. A policy wormhole is a hypothetical connection between separate regions of space and time. A policy wormhole is established when a change agent moves from one jurisdiction to another, creating a connection that potentially channels the diffusion of innovation.

4. http://www.gov.cn/ldhd/2010-06/12/content_1627020.htm_AvailableonJune212021

5. Lack of affordable housing threatens China’s urban dream. Retrieved on 3 January 2022.https://chinadialogue.net/en/cities/6365-lack-of-affordable-housing-threatens-China-s-urban-dream/

6. Prefecture-level cities and higher levels include 293 prefecture-level cities, 15 sub-province-level cities, and four province-level cities.

7. http://www.crei.cn

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Danning Zhao

Danning Zhao is a Ph.D. student at the School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University (Qingdao Campus). Her research interests include public policy processes, collaboration across sectors, and emergency management.

Zongfeng Sun

Zongfeng Sun is a Professor at the School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University (Qingdao Campus). His research interest includes public organization and public policy, digital government and big data, urban governance, and public services delivery. He has published in journals including China Review, Land Use Policy, Journal of Asian Public Policy, Journal of Chinese Governance, and Journal of Urban Planning and Development.

Runan Bi

Runan Bi is a postgraduate student at the School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University (Qingdao Campus). Her research interests include organizational theory, public policy, and public administration.

Ben Ma

Ben Ma is a Professor at the School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University (Qingdao Campus). His research interest includes public crisis management and democratic governance.