摘要
To explain China＇s dramatic economic growth, researchers have proposed a ＂tournament thesis. ＂＂ According to this thesis, the central government＇s ability to set growth targets has played a crucial role in growth since political promotion is largely based on local economic growth. We use provincial officials＂ career mobility data to test this thesis. For both time periods （1979-1995 and 1979-2002）, economic performance, measured in annual, average and relative terms, did not affect these officials＇ career advancement. We then sketch an alternative analytical framework to explain Chinese local officials＇ strong urge for developmentalism and, finally, draw policy implications from this explanatory framework.
To explain China＇s dramatic economic growth, researchers have proposed a ＂tournament thesis. ＂＂ According to this thesis, the central government＇s ability to set growth targets has played a crucial role in growth since political promotion is largely based on local economic growth. We use provincial officials＂ career mobility data to test this thesis. For both time periods （1979-1995 and 1979-2002）, economic performance, measured in annual, average and relative terms, did not affect these officials＇ career advancement. We then sketch an alternative analytical framework to explain Chinese local officials＇ strong urge for developmentalism and, finally, draw policy implications from this explanatory framework.
基金
financial support from the China National Social Science Foundation key project(11-ZD037)
the British SPF fund
the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
the Research Funds of Renmin University of China over our fieldwork in the past several years
