In whose image? Policy diffusion and policy process in the Chinese steel industry, 1977-1991.

Abstract

China's steel policy has changed significantly and frequently. This dissertation examines four causal factors for this: elite politics, bureaucratic-institutional politics, the global context of threats and opportunities, and international policy diffusion. The adoption of new policies based upon their diffusion from other countries such as Japan occurs during periods of systemic change, such as the period after the death of Mao, 1977-1980. Externally-oriented policy communities and external change agents aid international policy diffusion. Two types of diffusion are seen: the first is acute diffusion, a rapid process when the result of external policy models are brought to the attention of top Chinese leaders, seen in the Baoshan mill decisions in the late 1970s. Bureaucratic diffusion occurs when the lower levels of the model and emulating countries establish direct communications. This was seen with the Japanese and other East Asian steel industries in the 1980s. Global contextual factors, such as external opportunities, also significantly altered policy. Policies were changed in order to seize global opportunities such as low international iron ore prices or surplus western steelmaking equipment in the 1980s. The conflict between territorial institutions and functional bureaucracies has created an increasingly fragmented policy making environment in China. Inter-bureaucratic rivalries over budgetary allocations, new mill locations, foreign vs. domestic machinery purchases, and economic strategies have resulted in incremental policy bargaining. This is particularly important with the Baoshan steel mill policies. Elite influences on steel policy have varied across time. Intra-elite conflict over steel policy in the 1979-1981 period resulted in frequent policy changes, as elites used steel policy both as a surrogate and a real point of policy disagreement. The dissertation concludes that these policy factors interact in a complex manner, and that external forces are playing and increasingly important role in Chinese domestic policy making processes.