Within the shadow of hierarchy: The role of hierarchical interventions in environmental collaborative governance

Abstract

Existing literature often analyzes the effects of horizontal relationships on collaborative governance, though some scholars have started to recognize the role of hierarchical interventions. This paper identities two poorly examined areas of study. First, there is a lack of empirical studies to understand the diverse impacts of hierarchical interventions on collaborative governance. Second, there is little deliberation on how existing horizontal relationships can moderate the effects that hierarchical interventions have on collaborative governance. This paper utilizes environmental collaboration data from the Yangtze River Delta region in China to estimate the impacts of hierarchical interventions on collaborative arrangements and the contextual effects of horizontal relationships. We find that hierarchical interventions, such as top-down regulations and performance evaluation, enhance the formalization of collaborative arrangements. Additionally, horizontal relationships derived from past experiences can moderate the effects of hierarchical interventions, notwithstanding such effects vary among different interventions.

How governance boundaries affect regional collaboration on atmospheric governance—Evidence from China's Yangtze River Delta

“…In addition, some research has already shown that a local government's air pollution collaboration network will also be affected by geographic relations, pollution issues, political systems, economic characteristics, and urban population size, etc. (Chen et al, 2019; Yang et al, 2022; Yi et al, 2018; Zhou & Dai, 2022).…”

“…The Chinese central government's role in atmospheric protection is reflected in macro‐level policy planning and inter‐jurisdictional coordination. Higher level governments have the legitimacy and authority to impose regulations including coercive instruments on local collaborative governance (Chen et al, 2023; Zhou & Dai, 2022). Political evaluation tools, which are closely attached to political promotion, are also deployed by the central government to motivate local governments to achieve policy goals (Li & Zhou, 2005).…”

The evolutionary mechanism of haze collaborative governance: novel evidence from a tripartite evolutionary game model and a case study in China

“…In China, influenced by top-down institutional arrangements, vertical intervention by the central government can change the incentive structure of local governments, thus promoting the coordination between central and local governments. Therefore, the vertical coordination between central and local governments under the hierarchical system is also an important embodiment of collaborative governance (Mu et al, 2019;Zhou and Dai, 2023).…”

“…For environmental governance, especially for haze governance, which is a complex cross-domain public affair, collaborative governance can reflect the complex dynamics and subject diversity of multi-level governmental collaborative haze governance. As a typical practice of central-local collaborative governance under China's hierarchical system, CEPI changes the incentive structure of local governments through top-down institutional arrangements, thus shaping the motivation of local governments to participate in the collaborative governance of haze (Mu et al, 2019;Zhou and Dai, 2023).…”

State Interventions and Interlocal Collaborations Across the Three Pillars of Sustainability

“…This question is examined through the theoretical lens of contested federalism, which argues that competing goals and incentives in state-local government relationships lead to policy misalignments that cause distinct political transaction costs, which can impede sustainability actions (Rabe 2011; Youm and Feiock 2019; Farmer 2021; Feiock 2008). This theoretical perspective suggests that multilevel governance support within these hierarchical relationships can reduce the vertically distributed transaction costs (Youm and Feiock 2019; Feiock 2009; Homsy and Warner 2015; Huang and Berry 2021; Zhau and Dai 2022). This hierarchical focus highlights how the differences in attributes across sustainability policy dimensions affect municipal decisions to engage in interjurisdictional collaboration.…”