Heterogeneous responsibilities of three grassland resource governance modes in Inner Mongolia, China

Grassland resource governance is an important part of ecological civilization construction,and it directly af‐fects grassland governance performance.This study deploys principal-agent theory and uses social network analysis to compare grassland resource governance modes in China in terms of institutional settings and insti‐tutional network characteristics.This study found three types of grassland resource governance modes:self-designed,docked,and integrated.The self-designed mode forms a network structure with dual centers and multiple members,and has the second-best structural mode of the three types.The docked mode forms a net‐work structure with a single center in which the institution is the absolute core and is relatively divergent.It has the weakest structural advantage of the three types.The integrated mode forms a network structure with a single institution at the core and other institutions distributed evenly throughout the structure.This mode has the strongest structural advantage among the three types.This study offers the practical application of improv‐ing the practice of grassland governance in China and is theoretically significant because it can contribute to improving grassland governance modes and enriching the public goods resources governance.

Analysis on the Development Trend of Contemporary Local Governance Mode from the perspective of Economic Policy and Environmental Capacity Optimization

As the basic level of national governance, local governance is deeply influenced by administrative tradition, political system and economic development level of a country. With more than thirty years of reform and opening up, the pattern of local governance has become diversified. The diversity of governance model cannot be managed in the same way, however, it cannot affect the government’s ability to play the initiative role of governance. We need to innovate and improve the existing local governance models.

Understanding Policy Instruments as Rules of Interaction in Social-Ecological System Frameworks

Government interventions to manage and improve trade-offs in social and ecological systems are made through various policy instruments.The conditions of the social ecological system(SES)are a function of the cumulatively implemented policy instruments.Although both policy instruments and social ecological system frameworks have played important roles in theoretical developments in resource management,they have largely been considered in isolation from each other.By including policy instruments into the SES framework,the proposed conceptual model serves as a template to examine how governing takes place by deciphering:1)how the biophysical system has been understood in resource governance;2)how the social system has been set up in resource governance;and 3)how the trade-offbetween dynamic biophysical and social systems has been managed in the governance of SESs.This model can assist identifying any absent,overlapping or contradictory policy instruments in the governance of an SES.

Local Government Debt Governance in China in the Past 70 Years:Review and Prospect

This paper gives an overview of local government debt governance in China in the past 70 years and looks ahead to its strategic prospect in the new era based on a theoretical analysis of debt characteristics in the transition period.For this purpose,we divide the past 70 years into fi ve stages:planned regulation,exploration,wide fl uctuations,pilot expansion,and comprehensive transformation,which is a prudent trade-off process between“incentive”and“control”objectives to deal with the strategic fi nancing game of local governments and striving to make debt governance regulated,transparent,and institutionalized.With the historic changes in social and economic development concepts in the new era,the debt governance mode needs to shift from the conventional GDP-based quantitative governance to performance governance which is oriented towards long-term benefi ts,with a focus on improving the quality and efficiency of debt financing.Guided by the new development concepts,debt governance in the new era can continue to unleash reform dividends and promote strategic adjustments at the institutional,structural,mode,and technical levels in an orderly manner,so as to lay a solid foundation for ensuring the security of fi scal operations and the sustainability of local government debt fi nancing.

The Nature and Avoidance of the ＂Middle Income Trap＂

The ＂middle income trap＂ is a significant theoretical and practical issue closely related to the economic and social transition and sustainable development of a country. This paper explores the essence of the ＂middle income trap＂ and ways to avoid it. It reveals that the inner nature of the ＂middle income trap＂ lies in the institutional transition dilemma, which results essentially from a lack of reasonable and clear definitions of governance boundaries between government and market as well as government and society. This lack of boundaries causes coexistent and interrelated government inefficiency, market distortion/failure and social anomie, leading to a stagnant transition from a factor-driven to an efficiency-driven and further innovation-driven economy. Moreover, this paper proposes that the proper way to avoid the ＂trap＂ can be found in the reconstruction of the state governance mode, that is, to transition from a development-oriented and omnipotent government to a public service-oriented and limited government, from factor-driven to efficiency-driven and further innovation-driven development, and from a traditional society to a modem civil society through defining reasonable and clear boundaries between government and market as well as government and society. Thus, reconstruction can establish a state public governance mode featuring the interactive role of government, market and society, and achieve the modernization of state governance systems and capacity.