Improving China’s Environmental Performance through Adaptive Implementation—A Comparative Case Study of Cleaner Production in Hangzhou and Guiyang

Ting Guan, Dieter Grunow and Jianxing Yu
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Ting Guan: School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 688, Hangzhou 310058, China
Dieter Grunow: Rhein-Ruhr-Institut für Sozialforschung und Politikberatung e.V., Universität Duisburg-Essen, Heinrich-Lersch-Str. 15, 47057 Duisburg, Germany
Jianxing Yu: School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 688, Hangzhou 310058, China

Sustainability, 2014, vol. 6, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: This paper examines local policy implementation of Cleaner Production (CP) in China. As the major policy implementer, China’s local government plays a crucial role in promoting CP. A better understanding of the factors affecting local government’s incentives regarding CP and different strategies available to the local government can help policy makers and implementers improve CP practices and other environmental policy outcomes. This paper uses the cases of Hangzhou and Guiyang to demonstrate that local conditions of policy implementation have a direct impact on the success of CP promotion. Based on 35 in-depth interviews, statistical data and internal government reports, we find that the location-based incentives of local government strongly influence their implementation strategies; and that the choices of different strategies can bring out various policy results. From this study, the identified location-based incentives are affected by energy resource endowment, economic development stage and technological competence. The successful implementation strategies involve using different policy instruments synthetically, regulating CP service organizations by controlling their qualifications, differentiating CP subsidizations, and improving transparency of project progress and outcomes.

Keywords: cleaner production; incentive; implementation strategy; policy outcome (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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