IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/poleco/v83y2024ics017626802400051x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Anti-corruption campaign and economic growth in Chinese cities: The dichotomous mechanism of network-based political competition

Author

Listed:
  • Shi, Xiangyu

Abstract

I study how economic growth in Chinese cities responds to the recent anti-corruption campaign, focusing on a novel mechanism of network-based political competition, whereby the removal of investigated officials creates job vacancies and triggers promotion competition within the social network of the investigated officials for the vacancies. Such a network-based competition hinges on the premise that (1) some positions are persistently occupied by certain networks, and (2) high-ranked officials help low-ranked ones to achieve promotion within the network, two facts that are well supported by the evidence. Using a difference-in-differences and an instrumental variable approach, I find that cities’ GDP growth rate registers a 2.5-percentage-point increase following the investigation of the city leader’s connected officials. City leaders create a healthier business environment, attract investments, and increase government spending, while some long-term issues, including innovation, education, and environmental protection, are compromised, indicating the dichotomous nature of political competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Shi, Xiangyu, 2024. "Anti-corruption campaign and economic growth in Chinese cities: The dichotomous mechanism of network-based political competition," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:83:y:2024:i:c:s017626802400051x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102549
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S017626802400051X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102549?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. da Mata, D. & Deichmann, U. & Henderson, J.V. & Lall, S.V. & Wang, H.G., 2007. "Determinants of city growth in Brazil," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 252-272, September.
    2. Gründler, Klaus & Potrafke, Niklas, 2019. "Corruption and economic growth: New empirical evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    3. Xu, Gang & Yano, Go, 2017. "How does anti-corruption affect corporate innovation? Evidence from recent anti-corruption efforts in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 498-519.
    4. Daron Acemoglu & Asuman Ozdaglar & Alireza Tahbaz-Salehi, 2015. "Systemic Risk and Stability in Financial Networks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(2), pages 564-608, February.
    5. Daron Acemoglu & Vasco M. Carvalho & Asuman Ozdaglar & Alireza Tahbaz‐Salehi, 2012. "The Network Origins of Aggregate Fluctuations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(5), pages 1977-2016, September.
    6. De Long, J Bradford & Shleifer, Andrei, 1993. "Princes and Merchants: European City Growth before the Industrial Revolution," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(2), pages 671-702, October.
    7. Franklin Allen & Douglas Gale, 2000. "Financial Contagion," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(1), pages 1-33, February.
    8. Matthew Elliott & Benjamin Golub & Matthew O. Jackson, 2014. "Financial Networks and Contagion," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3115-3153, October.
    9. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Robinson, James A., 2005. "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 385-472, Elsevier.
    10. Lan, Xiaohuan & Li, Wei, 2018. "Swiss watch cycles: Evidence of corruption during leadership transition in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 1234-1252.
    11. Barro, Robert J, 1990. "Government Spending in a Simple Model of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 103-126, October.
    12. d’Agostino, Giorgio & Dunne, J. Paul & Pieroni, Luca, 2016. "Government Spending, Corruption and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 190-205.
    13. Bosker, Maarten & Brakman, Steven & Garretsen, Harry & De Jong, Herman & Schramm, Marc, 2008. "Ports, plagues and politics: explaining Italian city growth 1300–1861," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 97-131, April.
    14. Zhiyuan Chen & Xin Jin & Xu Xu, 2021. "Is a Corruption Crackdown Really Good for the Economy? Firm-Level Evidence from China," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 37(2), pages 314-357.
    15. Manion, Melanie, 1996. "Corruption by Design: Bribery in Chinese Enterprise Licensing," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 167-195, April.
    16. Levine, Ross & Renelt, David, 1992. "A Sensitivity Analysis of Cross-Country Growth Regressions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(4), pages 942-963, September.
    17. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 1993. "Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262570971, December.
    18. Li, Hongbin & Zhou, Li-An, 2005. "Political turnover and economic performance: the incentive role of personnel control in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1743-1762, September.
    19. Ruixue Jia & Masayuki Kudamatsu & David Seim, 2015. "Political Selection In China: The Complementary Roles Of Connections And Performance," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 631-668, August.
    20. Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2005. "Do Leaders Matter? National Leadership and Growth Since World War II," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 835-864.
    21. Adnan Q. Khan & Asim Ijaz Khwaja & Benjamin A. Olken, 2019. "Making Moves Matter: Experimental Evidence on Incentivizing Bureaucrats through Performance-Based Postings," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(1), pages 237-270, January.
    22. Card, David, 1999. "The causal effect of education on earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 30, pages 1801-1863, Elsevier.
    23. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December.
    24. Patrick Francois & Francesco Trebbi & Kairong Xiao, 2023. "Factions in Nondemocracies: Theory and Evidence From the Chinese Communist Party," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(2), pages 565-603, March.
    25. Junyan Jiang, 2018. "Making Bureaucracy Work: Patronage Networks, Performance Incentives, and Economic Development in China," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 62(4), pages 982-999, October.
    26. Timothy Besley & Jose G. Montalvo & Marta Reynal‐Querol, 2011. "Do Educated Leaders Matter?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(554), pages 205-205, August.
    27. Qu, Guangjun & Sylwester, Kevin & Wang, Feng, 2018. "Anticorruption and growth: Evidence from China," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 373-390.
    28. Raymond Fisman & Yongxiang Wang, 2015. "Corruption in Chinese Privatizations," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 31(1), pages 1-29.
    29. Shih, Victor & Adolph, Christopher & Liu, Mingxing, 2012. "Getting Ahead in the Communist Party: Explaining the Advancement of Central Committee Members in China," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 106(1), pages 166-187, February.
    30. Yang Yao & Muyang Zhang, 2015. "Subnational leaders and economic growth: evidence from Chinese cities," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 405-436, December.
    31. Card, David, 2001. "Estimating the Return to Schooling: Progress on Some Persistent Econometric Problems," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(5), pages 1127-1160, September.
    32. Jiang, Junyan & Zhang, Muyang, 2020. "Friends with benefits: Patronage networks and distributive politics in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    33. Johann Graf Lambsdorff, 2006. "Causes and Consequences of Corruption: What Do We Know from a Cross-Section of Countries?," Chapters, in: Susan Rose-Ackerman (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Corruption, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    34. Henderson, J. Vernon & Wang, Hyoung Gun, 2007. "Urbanization and city growth: The role of institutions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 283-313, May.
    35. Haoyuan Ding & Hanming Fang & Shu Lin & Kang Shi, 2020. "Equilibrium Consequences of Corruption on Firms: Evidence from China’s Anti-Corruption Campaign," NBER Working Papers 26656, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xue, Chang & Zhang, Xiaoyu, 2024. "Gloomy future, gloomy sky: Promotion incentives and pollution in China," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Chang Xue & Xiaoyu Zhang, 2024. "Promotion prospects and policy choice: evidence from the land market in China," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 200(1), pages 119-147, July.
    3. Jiang, Junyan & Mei, Yuan, 2020. "Mandarins make markets: Leadership rotations and inter-provincial trade in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    4. Chen, Qianmiao & Huang, Qingyang & Liu, Chang & Wang, Peng, 2022. "Career incentives of local leaders and crisis response: A case study of COVID-19 lockdowns in China," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. Demir, Firat & Hu, Chenghao & Liu, Junyi & Shen, Hewei, 2022. "Local corruption, total factor productivity and firm heterogeneity: Empirical evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    6. Trong‐Anh Trinh & Simon Feeny, 2024. "Does the power of the king stop at the village gate? Embeddedness and provincial development in Vietnam," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 677-707, July.
    7. Chuantao Cui & Leona Shao-Zhi Li, 2024. "More but not better: Career incentives of local leaders and entrepreneurial entry in China," Working Papers 202417, University of Macau, Faculty of Business Administration.
    8. Arthur Silve, 2012. "Complementarity and the resource curse," PSE Working Papers halshs-00728703, HAL.
    9. Arthur Silve, 2018. "Asset Complementarity, Resource Shocks, and the Political Economy of Property Rights," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 62(7), pages 1489-1516, August.
    10. Chen, Bochao & Wang, Hang & Wang, Xianbin, 2024. "Innovation Like China: Evidence from Chinese Local Officials' Promotions," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    11. Danglun Luo & Congcong Liu & Lifan Wu, 2020. "Horizontal Networks and Economic Performance: Evidence from City Leaders in China," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 101(4), pages 1359-1373, July.
    12. Chen, Shawn Xiaoguang & Liu, Yong & Xu, Xianxiang, 2020. "Dynamics of Local Cadre Appointment in China11We are grateful to the editor Cheryl Long, and three referees for their valuable comments. Shawn Xiaoguang Chen thanks the support of Beijing Municipal Ed," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    13. Ling, Leng & Luo, Danglun & SHE, Guoman, 2019. "Judging a book by its Cover: The influence of physical attractiveness on the promotion of regional leaders," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 1-14.
    14. Hanming Fang & Ming Li & Zenan Wu, 2022. "Tournament-Style Political Competition and Local Protectionism: Theory and Evidence from China," NBER Working Papers 30780, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Yang Zhou, 2022. "Economic institutions and horizontal checks and balances in the Chinese bureaucratic system: evidence at the prefecture-city level," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 133-160, June.
    16. Li, Yue & Shao, Xiang & Tao, Zhigang & Yuan, Hongjie, 2022. "How local leaders matter: Inter-provincial leadership transfers and land transactions in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 196-220.
    17. Ying Bai & Titi Zhou, 2019. "“Mao’s last revolution”: a dictator’s loyalty–competence tradeoff," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 180(3), pages 469-500, September.
    18. Huang, Zhangkai & Li, Lixing & Ma, Guangrong & Qian, Jun, 2021. "The reversal of privatization in China: A political economy perspective," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    19. Chen, Shuo & Fan, Xinyu & Colin Xu, L. & Yan, Xun, 2023. "Competence-loyalty tradeoff under dominant minority rule: The case of Manchu rule, 1650-1911," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    20. Rok Spruk & Mitja Kovac, 2018. "Inefficient Growth," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 9(2).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Anti-corruption; Social networks; Factions; Intra-network competition; Economic growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:83:y:2024:i:c:s017626802400051x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505544 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.