The fiscal foundation of Bureaucratic Power-sharing:Evidence from Lijin Taxation in the Qing Dynasty

• 作 者: Jinlin Wei Tianyang Xi
• 机 构: National School of Development Peking University
• 出 处: 河南大学
• 发表日期: 2017年3期
• 关键词: Fiscal Decentralization Power-sharing Lijin State Capacity

　　This paper examines how fiscal decentralization affected the transformation of state capacity and bureaucratic power-sharing in China during the late Qing period,utilizing a unique data set covering the career paths of over 800 high ranking bureaucrats.The outbreak of mass Taiping and Nian Rebellions posed a severe challenge to the state capacity of Qing,forcing the rulers to delegate the power to levy Lijin,the commodity tax being collected at regional customs,to provincial governments.The paper finds that the rise of Lijin taxation was coupled with significant expansions in the political power of provincial governors.The probabilities of promotion for governors and lieutenant governors were positively related to the amount of Lijin revenue.Moreover,the Lijin revenue enhanced the power of governors-general,increasing the probability of promotion for lower level bureaucrats with connections to the governors-general.Provinces more abundant in Lijin revenues had fewer internal conflicts.But at the same time those provinces are among the early ones to announce independence during the Republican Revolution of 1911,and are featured with strong regionalism in bureaucratic appointments today.