DFG project: Interjurisdictional Competition and Cooperation in China
Prof. Genia Kostka, together with Prof. Sarah Eaton (Humboldt University) acquired a new DFG project on the topic of: “ Interjurisdictional Competition and Cooperation in China: An Analysis of Sources and Policy Interventions at the County Level”. During the next three years, this research project will develop and apply an analytical framework to explain variation in local interjurisdictional relations in contemporary China ranging from competitive to cooperative behaviour in the two selected policy fields of economics and environment. We will also analyze the effectiveness of current policy interventions to stem harmful forms of competition and promote interjurisdictional cooperation on critical issues such as sustainable ecosystem management. The results of our empirical analysis will then serve as the basis on which to develop an encompassing theory of interjurisdictional relations in China. Beyond contributing to a hot topic in the study of Chinese politics, this project will shed light on a problem of real-world importance that is at the crux of China’s difficult move off the path of growth-at-all-costs toward a green transformation.