@article{EatonKostka, author = {Eaton, Sarah and Kostka, Genia}, title = {Authoritarian environmentalism undermined? Local leaders' time horizons and environmental policy implementation in China}, series = {The China Quarterly}, volume = {218}, journal = {The China Quarterly}, publisher = {Cambridge Univ. Press}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {0305-7410}, doi = {10.1017/S0305741014000356}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-10423}, pages = {359 -- 380}, abstract = {China's national leaders see restructuring and diversification away from resource-based, energy intensive industries as central goals in the coming years. On the basis of extensive fieldwork in China between 2010 and 2012, we suggest that the high turnover of leading cadres at the local level may hinder state-led greening growth initiatives. Frequent cadre turnover is intended primarily to keep local Party secretaries and mayors on the move in order to promote the implementation of central directives. While rotation does seem to aid implementation by reducing coordination problems, there are also significant downsides to local leaders changing office every three to four years. Officials with short time horizons are likely to choose the path of least resistance in selecting quick, low-quality approaches to the implementation of environmental policies. We conclude that the perverse effects of local officials' short time horizons give reason to doubt the more optimistic claims about the advantages of China's model of environmental authoritarianism.}, language = {en} } @article{HarrisonKostka, author = {Harrison, Tom and Kostka, Genia}, title = {Balancing priorities, aligning interests: Developing mitigation capacity in China and India}, series = {Comparative Political Studies}, volume = {47}, journal = {Comparative Political Studies}, number = {3}, publisher = {Sage}, address = {Los Angeles [u.a.]}, doi = {10.1177/0010414013509577}, pages = {450 -- 480}, abstract = {Debates about how to respond to climate change have largely focused on the difficulties in agreeing on national targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By assuming that the main obstacle to emissions reduction lies in the inability to reach agreement internationally, the current debate underplays the challenges of building the state capacity that will be needed to ensure mitigation takes place. The implementation of mitigation strategies is far from straightforward. It requires careful balancing of competing priorities and deliberate strategies to bring different interest groups on board. We analyze the way this balancing act has been carried out in promoting energy efficiency measures in China and India. The balancing act has been done differently as each country has tailored its approach to the specific context of competing priorities and differing state capacity. We encapsulate these differences by referring to China's approach as "state-signaling" and India's approach as a "market-plus" approach. China's approach is more explicitly statist than India's, but in both countries, the state plays a central role in building the support base for its policies through processes that we describe as the bundling of policies and interests. These bundling strategies are used to help build informal coalitions in favor of energy efficiency measures.}, language = {en} } @article{KostkaZhou, author = {Kostka, Genia and Zhou, Jianghua}, title = {Government-business alliances in state capitalist economies: evidence from low-income markets in China}, series = {Business and Politics}, volume = {15}, journal = {Business and Politics}, number = {2}, publisher = {de Gruyter}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {1469-3569}, doi = {10.1515/bap-2012-0043}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-10440}, pages = {245 -- 274}, abstract = {Based on three in-depth case studies, the study analyzes how and why Chinese enterprises partner with governments in cooperative ventures which aim to simultaneously achieve poverty alleviation objectives and establish profitable business ventures in rural areas. The analysis draws out specific characteristics of three government-business partnerships in China, which vary in terms of governance structure, resource complementarity and incentives. The findings show that in this state capitalist system, outcomes of government-business partnerships depend on firms having unique resources and capabilities that serve particular policy objectives of the government. By the same token, in order to make partnerships attractive to firms, national and local governments must hold the keys to unique resources needed by enterprises looking to do business in low-income markets. The cases further illustrate that, in order to build and maintain successful government-business partnerships over time, the alignment of incentives plays an important role. In sum, complementary resources and well-aligned interests between firms and governments help to explain why some government-enterprise partnerships are more successful than others.}, language = {en} } @article{KostkaXiaofan, author = {Kostka, Genia and Xiaofan, Yu}, title = {Career backgrounds of municipal Party secretaries in China: Why do so few municipal Party secretaries rise from the county level?}, series = {Modern China}, volume = {41}, journal = {Modern China}, number = {5}, publisher = {Sage}, address = {Los Angeles [u.a.]}, issn = {15526836}, doi = {10.1177/0097700414539628}, pages = {467 -- 505}, abstract = {This article examines the career backgrounds of municipal Chinese Communist Party secretaries between 1990 and 2011. Based on an analysis of 898 cadre biographies and 32 interviews with local government officials during 2011 and 2013, this article shows that the majority of municipal party secretaries had spent their careers working at the provincial and municipal levels, while only few advanced up from the county. Our analysis finds that obstacles hindering leading county cadres from rising to the upper ranks of the municipal apparatus include age and education restrictions; limited positions at the municipal level; the lack of networks linking to provincial leaders; and provincial leaders' appointment preferences. Limited career advancement opportunities for county cadres have important implications for understanding the incentive foundations of China's bureaucracy. With only slim prospects for leading county cadres to rise to top municipal positions, the political incentives outlined in the cadre evaluation system might not be as effective in steering cadre behavior as currently claimed in the literature.}, language = {en} } @article{KostkaHochstetler, author = {Kostka, Genia and Hochstetler, Kathryn}, title = {Wind and Solar Power in Brazil and China: Interests, State-Business Relations, and Policy Outcomes}, series = {Global Environmental Politics}, volume = {15}, journal = {Global Environmental Politics}, number = {3}, issn = {1536-0091}, doi = {10.1162/GLEP_a_00312}, pages = {74 -- 94}, abstract = {This article examines developments in the renewable electricity sector in Brazil and China since 2000. The two countries share many interests with respect to solar and wind power, but institutional differences in state-business relations led to different outcomes. In China, in a context of corporatist state-business relations, state interventions were more far-reaching, with the state coordinating with state-owned banks, offering large financial and investment incentives to state-owned or state-connected enterprises. By contrast, in Brazil's public-private partnerships, state support to promote renewable energies was shaped by a stronger preference for competitive auctions and stricter financing rules. The differences in state-business relations help explain the observed developmental trajectories in wind and solar power}, language = {en} } @article{Kostka, author = {Kostka, Genia}, title = {Command without control: The case of China's environmental target system}, series = {Regulation \& Governance}, volume = {10}, journal = {Regulation \& Governance}, number = {1}, issn = {1748-5991}, doi = {10.1111/rego.12082}, pages = {58 -- 74}, abstract = {In the existing literature there is general agreement that the effectiveness and efficiency of command and control instruments versus market-based instruments is highly context specific. A country's particular regulatory environment and state capacity, as well as the features of given environmental problems, play an important role in ascertaining what the "right" set of policy instruments for environmental management might be. This article examines how command and control instruments are used as an environmental enforcement mechanism in China's authoritarian state. Based on extensive fieldwork, this paper shows that the reliance on binding environmental targets as the main domestic policy instrument in China has generated numerous undesirable consequences. While China's target-based approach to implementation has incentivized local officials to strictly enforce environmental mandates, there are numerous shortcomings in the system. In particular, target rigidity, cyclical behaviour, poor data quality, and the absence of an independent monitoring agency have generated adverse effects and contribute to a yawning gap between regulatory goals and outcomes. The paper concludes that binding environmental targets as the main command-control instrument in China can be more accurately described as "command without control" as the target-setting central government does not exercise a high degree of control over implementation and monitoring processes. But command and control instruments can be suited for managing "first-generation" environmental problems and addressing environmental issues that have easily identifiable pollution sources and which are easy to verify.}, language = {en} } @misc{HammerschmidWegrichKostka, author = {Hammerschmid, Gerhard and Wegrich, Kai and Kostka, Genia}, title = {The Governance of Infrastructure.}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, address = {Oxford ; New York, NY}, isbn = {9780198787310}, pages = {304}, abstract = {If infrastructure is a fundamental driver of economic growth and social development, why is it so difficult to get right? This volume makes the case for a governance perspective on infrastructure. This implies moving beyond rational economic analysis of what should be done towards an analysis of the political, institutional and societal mechanisms that shape decision-making about infrastructure investment, planning and implementation. The expert contributions dissect the logics of infrastructure governance in a novel way, providing timely analyses that will enrich debates about how to get infrastructure governance right.}, language = {en} } @incollection{HammerschmidWegrichKostka, author = {Hammerschmid, Gerhard and Wegrich, Kai and Kostka, Genia}, title = {The Challenges of Infrastructure: Complexity, (Ir)Rationalities, and the Search for Better Governance}, series = {The Governance of Infrastructure}, booktitle = {The Governance of Infrastructure}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, isbn = {978-0198757436}, pages = {1 -- 20}, language = {en} } @article{KostkaMoslenerAndreas, author = {Kostka, Genia and Moslener, U. and Andreas, J.}, title = {Barriers to increasing energy efficiency: Evidence from small- and medium-sized enterprises in China}, series = {Journal of Cleaner Production}, volume = {57}, journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam [u.a.]}, issn = {0959-6526}, doi = {10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.06.025}, pages = {59 -- 68}, abstract = {This paper analyzes financial, informational and organizational barriers to energy efficiency investments for small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China. Its findings are based on a survey of 480 SMEs in Zhejiang province, and complemented by semi-structured interviews with enterprises contained in the survey sample. Responses reveal that only a minority of SMEs in China actively perform energy saving activities at a significant level. The survey data suggest, further, that informational barriers are the core bottleneck inhibiting energy efficiency improvements in China's SME sector. Financial and organizational barriers also influence a company's energy saving activities, with interview-based evidence stronger than statistical evidence. The interviews point out three additional barriers to energy saving activities: the role of family ownership structures, lax enforcement of government regulations and the absence of government support as well as a lack of skilled labor. More than 40\% of enterprises in the sample declared themselves unaware of energy saving equipment or practices in their respective business area, indicating that there are high transaction costs for SMEs to gather, assess, and apply information about energy saving potentials and relevant technologies. One policy implication of the study is that the Chinese government could play a more active role in fostering the dissemination of energy-efficiency related information in the SME sector.}, language = {en} } @article{KostkaHobbs2012, author = {Kostka, Genia and Hobbs, W.}, title = {Embedded interests and the managerial local state: the political economy of methanol fuel-switching in China}, series = {Journal of Contemporary China}, volume = {22}, journal = {Journal of Contemporary China}, number = {80}, publisher = {Taylor and Francis}, address = {London [u.a.]}, issn = {1067-0564}, doi = {10.1080/10670564.2012.734078}, pages = {204 -- 218}, year = {2012}, abstract = {This paper analyzes the determinants of Chinese government support for methanol automobile fuel development. At the national level, a preference for low carbon alternatives, ongoing bureaucratic restructuring, and profitability concerns of the national oil companies (NOCs) help to explain a lack of support for methanol fuel. At the local level, a short-term and localized view of industry development explains why some governments actively promote methanol fuel through local standardization, subsidies, and management of NOC opposition. The case of methanol fuel illustrates how local governments with strong, embedded interests have filled in the national-level policy vacuum on this issue. These findings contribute to the ongoing debate on the evolving central-local relations in China and hold lessons for alternative fuel adoption efforts underway in many parts of the world.}, language = {en} } @article{KostkaMol, author = {Kostka, Genia and Mol, Arthur P.J.}, title = {Innovations and participation in China}, series = {Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning}, volume = {15}, journal = {Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning}, number = {1}, publisher = {Taylor and Francis}, address = {London [u.a.]}, issn = {1522-7200}, doi = {10.1080/1523908X.2013.763629}, pages = {3 -- 16}, abstract = {With its recently published 12th Five-Year Plan (FYP, 2011-2015) China's leaders have set ambitious national environmental targets and goals for developing a more sustainable economy and society. Past records, however, show that ambitious goals and regulations too often fail due to shortcomings in local implementation and civil society participation. At the sub-national level, economic, political, and social interests continue to dictate the political agenda and the participation of non-state actors remains limited. This article analyses these implementation and participation gaps and reviews recent innovations and experiments to address these gaps in local environmental politics in China. Although many ongoing experiments and new institutional arrangements can be identified, these projects and initiatives remain limited in scope and geographical spread. Further advances in policy enforcement and in opening up policy design to citizens and other non-state actors at the local level are needed in order to turn the article ambitions of the 12th FYP into reality.}, language = {en} } @article{Kostka, author = {Kostka, Genia}, title = {Environmental protection bureau leadership at the provincial level in China: Examining diverging career backgrounds and appointment patterns}, series = {Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning}, volume = {15}, journal = {Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning}, number = {1}, publisher = {Taylor and Francis}, address = {London [u.a.]}, issn = {1522-7200}, doi = {10.1080/1523908X.2012.752184}, pages = {41 -- 63}, abstract = {This paper analyses the career backgrounds of local government officials in provincial Environmental Protection Bureaus (EPBs) in China and explains the appointment patterns of Chinese EPB bureaucrats. Using biographical information of provincial EPB heads and drawing on fieldwork conducted in Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia, this paper finds that only one-fourth of the provincial EPB heads were promoted through the bureau ranks within the EPBs, while the remaining three-fourths were appointed from positions outside the environment field. Further, nearly all EPB heads' professional backgrounds and associated networks can be clearly categorized as environmental, business, provincial government, or local government oriented. This paper delineates these four types of Chinese EPB leaders and explains why an awareness of the different professional orientations is critical to understanding environmental regulation and protection in China. These findings have implications for inferring the unique characteristics of a province's EPB leadership, the implementation capacities of provincial EPBs, and the appointment preferences of provincial leaders.}, language = {en} } @article{KostkaShin, author = {Kostka, Genia and Shin, Kyoung}, title = {Energy conservation through energy service companies}, series = {Energy Policy}, volume = {52}, journal = {Energy Policy}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam [u.a.]}, issn = {0301-4215}, doi = {10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.034}, pages = {748 -- 759}, language = {en} } @article{KostkaHobbs, author = {Kostka, Genia and Hobbs, W.}, title = {Local energy efficiency policy implementation in China: Bridging the gap between national priorities and local interests}, series = {The China Quarterly}, volume = {211}, journal = {The China Quarterly}, publisher = {Cambridge Univ. Press}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {0305-7410}, doi = {10.1017/S0305741012000860}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-10850}, pages = {765 -- 785}, abstract = {This paper analyses Chinese sub-national governments' implementation strategies to meet national energy efficiency targets in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010). Previous research has focused on the ways governance practices and decision-making structures shape implementation outcomes, yet very little attention has been given to what strategies local leaders actually employ to bridge national priorities with local interests. To illustrate how local leaders work politically, this paper highlights specific implementation methods officials use to strengthen formal incentives and create effective informal incentives to comply with energy efficiency mandates. The analysis is drawn from 53 interviews conducted in June and July of 2010 in Shanxi, a major coal-producing and energy-intensive province. Findings suggest that local government leaders conform to national directives by "bundling" the energy efficiency policy with policies of more pressing local importance or by "bundling" their energy efficiency objectives with the interests of groups with significant political influence. Ultimately, sub-national government officials frame policies in ways that give them legitimacy at the local level.}, language = {en} } @article{Kostka, author = {Kostka, Genia}, title = {Mobility and agency: Private sector development in rural central China}, series = {The China Journal}, volume = {67}, journal = {The China Journal}, publisher = {The University of Chicago Press}, address = {Chicago}, issn = {1324-9347}, doi = {10.1086/665739}, pages = {47 -- 66}, language = {en} } @article{KostkaPolzinScharrer, author = {Kostka, Genia and Polzin, Christine and Scharrer, Jenny}, title = {The future of sugar cane in (the) People's Republic of China and India: Supply constraints and expansion potential}, series = {Applied Energy}, volume = {86}, journal = {Applied Energy}, number = {S1}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam [u.a.]}, doi = {10.1016/j.apenergy.2009.05.005}, pages = {S100 -- S107}, abstract = {The last decade has seen a surging demand for biofuels in the wake of increasing oil prices and rising environmental concerns. The most common biofuel is bio-ethanol accounting for more than 90\% of total biofuel usage. It is increasingly produced from sugar cane making cane a strategic crop for biofuels. Given the growing demand for "green" fuels, bio-ethanol production has been supported by energy policies in the past decade, which have consequently been accused of contributing to the global trend of rising food prices and thus jeopardising food security. However, while biofuel policies are an important driver, prices as much as food security will ultimately be determined by supply constraints of strategic crops. This paper hence investigates drivers of and constraints to sugar cane production in (the) People's Republic of China and India and shows that supply side constraints vary significantly in the two countries. (the) PRC and India both face serious limitations with regard to suitable available land for the further expansion of sugar cane production. Equally they are both faced with challenges to increasing yield output per hectare, albeit different ones. With regard to productivity, (the) PRC achieved 2.7\% annual yield growth since 1997, while India has seen yield decreases of -0.1\% p.a. over the same period. The authors conclude that cane used as a feedstock to meet the rising energy demand will come at the expense of converting fertile land for non-food purposes.}, language = {en} } @misc{KostkaMol, author = {Kostka, Genia and Mol, A.}, title = {Local environmental politics in China: Challenges and innovations}, publisher = {Routledge}, address = {London [u.a.]}, isbn = {978-0415723299}, pages = {144}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kostka, author = {Kostka, Genia}, title = {Private sector development in central China: patterns, causes, and the role of local governments}, publisher = {Oxford Univ.Press}, address = {Oxford}, pages = {742}, language = {en} } @incollection{EatonKostka, author = {Eaton, Sarah and Kostka, Genia}, title = {Does cadre turnover help or hinder China's green rise?: Evidence from Shanxi province}, series = {Chinese environmental policy: Dynamics, challenges, and prospects in a changing society}, booktitle = {Chinese environmental policy: Dynamics, challenges, and prospects in a changing society}, publisher = {Palgrave Macmillan}, address = {Basingstoke [u.a.]}, isbn = {9781137350688}, language = {en} } @incollection{Kostka, author = {Kostka, Genia}, title = {Private sector development in Anhui province: The impact of regional spillovers from Jiangsu Province}, series = {China in the World Economy}, booktitle = {China in the World Economy}, publisher = {Routledge}, address = {London [u.a.]}, isbn = {978-0-415-47002-5}, pages = {212 -- 234}, language = {en} }