Career incentives of local leaders and crisis response: A case study of COVID-19 lockdowns in China

Qianmiao Chen, Qingyang Huang, Chang Liu and Peng Wang

European Journal of Political Economy, 2022, vol. 75, issue C

Abstract: This paper studies the role of local Chinese leaders' career incentives in decisions regarding large-scale crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Most local leaders were reluctant to impose lockdowns at the beginning of the pandemic, because their promotions rely on posting strong numbers for economic growth in their region, while lockdowns can suppress growth. Once the nation's top leader warned that local leaders who failed to control the disease would be removed from office, many rapidly implemented resolute measures. However, we find that local leaders with larger promotion incentives were still more likely to downplay the virus by avoiding or minimizing lockdowns.

Keywords: COVID-19; Local leaders; Career incentive; Lockdown (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D73 H11 P26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:poleco:v:75:y:2022:i:c:s0176268022000027

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2022.102180

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