Campaign-Style Implementation and Affordable Housing Provision in China

Abstract

The existing literature identifies campaigns as an important tool of policy implementation for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). However, scholars have yet to reach agreement about the effects of campaigns on policy outcomes. This article helps to provide answers through an analysis of an affordable housing campaign adopted by the central government between 2011 and 2015. My findings are confirmed using regression analysis of a large original data set that I compiled. The article finds that the campaign strengthened the political incentives for local officials and that they responded to the campaign by building more affordable housing. But the campaign’s effects varied across different types of localities, which led to a significant mismatch between the allocation of government resources and the actual needs of local residents. These findings point to the defects of campaign-style implementation and China’s need for more institutionalized mechanisms to implement policies prioritized by the national government.