Local governance and the quality of local infrastructure : evidence from village road projects in rural China

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Journal of Public Economics

Publication Date

8-2017

Volume

152

First Page

119

Last Page

132

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Keywords

Local governance, Infrastructure quality, Village roads, Village participation, Rural China

Abstract

Research has shown that allowing local communities to elect their own leaders increases local infrastructure investment. However, much less is known about the effects of local governance reform on the quality of local infrastructure. This paper examines the effects of governance reform implemented in rural Chinese villages on the quality of village road projects. We conduct surveys in 101 rural villages and collect data related to the implementation of the reform over the last two decades. We also measure the quality of over 550 village road projects completed in these villages. Using fixed effects and instrumental variable estimation methods, we find that the implementation of village governance reform increases the quality of village road projects. We also find evidence supporting the following effect mechanisms: (1) village leaders become younger and more educated, (2) high quality road projects increase incumbent leaders' re-election chances, and (3) village residents participate more actively in the management and monitoring of village road projects.

DOI

10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.06.006

Print ISSN

00472727

Funding Information

Funding for this research was provided by: National Natural Science Foundation of China (71333012, 71473239, 71033003) {71333012, 71473239, 71033003}

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Wong, H. L., Wang, Y., Luo, R., Zhang, L., & Rozelle, S. (2017). Local governance and the quality of local infrastructure: Evidence from village road projects in rural China. Journal of Public Economics, 152, 119-132. doi: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.06.006

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