Publication
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Bureaucratic Interests: Does Fiscal Decentralization Impede Efficient Governance?
Yuxing (Nemo) Chen · 2026
Politics & Policy, 54(5), e70173
This paper examines how fiscal decentralization shapes administrative reform in China. Using two-way fixed-effects models, it finds that greater fiscal autonomy strengthens bureaucratic interests and constrains the reduction of administrative units.
The paper was presented at the APSA, IPSA, WPSA, and MPSA annual meetings. It received the University of Michigan’s Marshall Sahlins Award for the best thesis in the social sciences and the Frank Grace Award for the best thesis in political science.