Multi-scalar Government Connections and Regional Path Creation and Transformation in China

Abstract

The topic about agencies in promoting regional economics has been ongoing for a long time. Existing research, largely based on practices of developed countries, often underestimates the role played by governmental agencies in less developed countries like China. This paper attempts to unravel the impacts of the multi-scale political interactions on fostering regional development based on Chinese leader visit data from 1993 to 2015. In-depth interviews were conducted with 104 officials and entrepreneurs to explore the upgrading path of Kunshan City, where is transformed from a backward agricultural county to China’s top one industrial county over the last 19 years. The findings are as follows:(1) Intergovernmental interactions exert a significant positive effect on regional economic development;(2) The effect is characterized by "hierarchical features". Under the hierarchical structure of Chinese governments, upper-level governments with greater authority and resources have a more substantial influence on regional development, such effect is extremely significant in lower-level regions with limited power and resources. (3) The effect diminishes with the increasing of market forces. Besides, the research constructs a conceptual model called the "Local government-Enterprise-Upper Government Double Helix Evolution Model", visualizing the dynamic behavioral mechanisms of government agents, especially the coupling game between local and upper governments through the lens of multi-scalar interaction. Our research calls for a (re)focus on government agency, especially its resource mobility capacity through multi-scalar political interactions in path creation and transformation.