Infrastructure provision in China: A cross-sectoral and multi-level analysis

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Genia Kostka
• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 395165932

Despite the presence of numerous governance-related factors commonly viewed as highly adverse to successful infrastructure development, China across various measures reaches levels of efficiency in infrastructure project provision that are on par with standards in industrialised Western countries. Engaging with this puzzle, this research project aims to identify key determinants for the success and failure of infrastructure provision in China's authoritarian and decentralised political system. Studying the impact of infrastructure governance on project outcomes across different industry sectors, administrative levels and financing models, this project offers comparative insight into the political processes that determine the direction and results of China's infrastructure boom of recent decades. By clarifying how governance factors determine and affect the logic of infrastructure provision in China, this project furthermore aims to resolve inconsistencies within the existing governance literature and ultimately expand its reach to incorporate the Chinese case.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants