“经营创新”:县乡关系转型中的乡镇政府行为研究

“Operational Innovation”:A Study of Township Government Behavior in the Transition of County-Township Relations

科层组织天生具有惰性,难以采纳新的程序或模式,但是当前中国乡镇政府却存在大量的创新行为。在对乡镇政府“经营创新”行为的深度调查基础上,本文对乡镇政府创新的主要类型、动力机制和制度环境进行了论述和分析。乡镇政府创新主要有治理型创新、政策型创新和政治型创新三种类型。其中,任务导向的政策型创新和政绩导向的政治型创新是乡镇政府“经营创新”的主要方向,它们在推动乡镇工作、激发基层治理活力的同时,也带来了较严重的形式主义,挤压了需求导向的治理型创新空间。乡镇政府经营创新行为的动力机制包括合法性-趋同性机制、效率-压力性机制和政绩-竞争性机制,当前县乡关系转型是乡镇经营创新行为制度化的制度环境。本文的分析符合制度理论关于科层组织创新需要叠加等级和规则、注入特别激励的命题,有助于推进相关理论研究和对乡镇政府行为的理解。

Bureaucratic organizations are naturally inert and often resistant to adopting new procedures or models.However,at present,Chinese township governments exhibit a substantial amount of innovative behavior.Based on an in-depth investigation of the“operational innovation”behavior of township governments,this article elaborates and analyzes the main types,driving mechanisms,and institutional environment of innovation in these governments.The innovation of township governments is primarily categorized into three types:governance-oriented innovation,policyoriented innovation,and political-oriented innovation.Among these,task-oriented policy innovation and performance-oriented political innovation are the main directions of“operational innovation”by township governments.While they drive township work and stimulate grassroots governance vitality,they also bring about significant formalism and squeeze the space for demand-oriented governance innovation.The driving mechanisms for township operational innovation include the legitimacyconvergence mechanism,efficiency-pressure mechanism,and performance-competition mechanism.The current transition of county-township relations has created an institutional environment that institutionalizes and formalizes operational innovation behavior in townships.The analysis presented in this article aligns with institutional theory regarding the proposition that innovation within bureaucratic organizations need to combine with layers and rules,and need special incentive,contributing to further theoretical research and understanding of township government behavior.