Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/50548 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
Frankfurt School - Working Paper Series No. 174
Publisher: 
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Frankfurt a. M.
Abstract: 
This paper analyzes the career backgrounds of local government officials in provincial Environmental Protection Bureaus (EPBs) in China and explains appointment processes of Chinese EPB bureaucrats. Using biographical information of provincial EPB heads and drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted in 2010 in Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia, this paper finds that only one-fourth of current EPB heads were promoted through the bureau ranks within the EPB, while the remaining three-fourths were appointed from positions outside the environment field. Further, nearly all EPB heads' professional backgrounds and associated networks can be clearly categorized as environmental, business, provincial government, or local government oriented. The paper delineates these four types of Chinese EPB leaders and explains why an awareness of the different professional orientations is critical to understanding environmental protection in China. These findings have implications for inferring the unique characteristics of a province's EPB leadership, the implementation capacities of provincial EPBs, and the appointment preferences of provincial leaders.
Subjects: 
agency
environmental protection
policy implementation
networks
China
JEL: 
P28
Q28
O18
R58
Q48
Q58
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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