Leizhen Zang | Peking University (original) (raw)

Papers by Leizhen Zang

Research paper thumbnail of Balancing Local Concerns and Global Views: Western Administrative Theory in China's Reform Practices

Asian Politics and Policy, 2018

China's five‐yearly governmental restructuring has always taken place in lockstep with the Commun... more China's five‐yearly governmental restructuring has always taken place in lockstep with the Communist Party of China National Congress. Moreover, the theme of every administrative reform in the past three decades has complied with that of theoretical research by foreign scholars during the same period. The Chinese government draws lessons from theories of foreign public administration to explore ways to reform its practices. By means of evaluating the gains and losses of the Chinese government in the abovementioned process, this article points out that theories of Western public administration meet local challenges while contributing to China's reform practices. Through their analyses, we use China's practices as examples to highlight the balance between local concerns and global views and to suggest how scholars can better advise governments in the process of administrative reforms in other developing countries.

Research paper thumbnail of Reversing the U New Evidence on the Internet and Democracy Relationship

Social Science Computer Review, 2018

The relationship between the Internet and democratic developments has long been a controversial t... more The relationship between the Internet and democratic developments has long been a controversial topic, hampered in part by the lack of empirical evidence. So this study is undertaken to investigate the effects of Internet penetration on democratization based on the panel data of 125 countries gathered from 1993 to 2014. The authors apply machine-learning method (i.e., random forest) to effectively screen the variables that are more closely related to democracy. The results of different estimation models reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between Internet penetration and democratization and also distinguish the impacts of the Internet on advanced and less advanced democracies. Then, we arrive at the conclusion that Internet penetration brings a late-starting advantage in the development of democracy for less advanced democracies. These conclusions are further confirmed by the robust test.

Research paper thumbnail of Does democracy cause innovation? An empirical test of the popper hypothesis

Research Policy, 2017

Democratic countries produce higher levels of innovation than autocratic ones, but does democrati... more Democratic countries produce higher levels of innovation than autocratic ones, but does democratization itself lead to innovation growth either in the short or in the long run? The existing literature has extensively examined the relationship between democracy and growth but seldom explored the effect of democracy on innovation, which might be an important channel through which democracy contributes to economic growth. This article aims to fill this gap and contribute to the long-standing debate on the relationship between democracy and innovation by offering empirical evidence based on a data set covering 156 countries between 1964 and 2010. The results from the difference-in-differences method show that democracy itself has no direct positive effect on innovation measured with patent counts, patent citations and patent originality.

Research paper thumbnail of Are Chinese college graduates satisfied with serving as village officials An evaluation with nationwide survey data

Journal of Asian Public Policy , 2018

To promote rural socio-economic development, the Chinese government has encouraged college gradua... more To promote rural socio-economic development, the Chinese government has encouraged college graduates to work in villages since 2005, bringing about a novel nonmarket-determined job called graduate village official. We use nationwide survey data to analyse the determinants of job satisfaction for graduate village officials. Empirical results show that the job satisfaction of graduate village officials is basically not determined by their personal traits, but by social contexts as well as job factors. Salary, occupational pride, adaption to rural work, supports from leaders and job prospects impact more on graduate village officials’ job satisfaction than other factors. Unreasonable policy management and implementation contribute to graduate village officials’ job dissatisfaction. Finally, we briefly discuss potential policy implications of our findings.

Books by Leizhen Zang

Research paper thumbnail of The Changing Structure of Political Opportunity and Political Participation

China Social Sciences Press, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Political Methodology

China Social Sciences Press, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding State Governance

Social Sciences Academic Press (China), 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Balancing Local Concerns and Global Views: Western Administrative Theory in China's Reform Practices

Asian Politics and Policy, 2018

China's five‐yearly governmental restructuring has always taken place in lockstep with the Commun... more China's five‐yearly governmental restructuring has always taken place in lockstep with the Communist Party of China National Congress. Moreover, the theme of every administrative reform in the past three decades has complied with that of theoretical research by foreign scholars during the same period. The Chinese government draws lessons from theories of foreign public administration to explore ways to reform its practices. By means of evaluating the gains and losses of the Chinese government in the abovementioned process, this article points out that theories of Western public administration meet local challenges while contributing to China's reform practices. Through their analyses, we use China's practices as examples to highlight the balance between local concerns and global views and to suggest how scholars can better advise governments in the process of administrative reforms in other developing countries.

Research paper thumbnail of Reversing the U New Evidence on the Internet and Democracy Relationship

Social Science Computer Review, 2018

The relationship between the Internet and democratic developments has long been a controversial t... more The relationship between the Internet and democratic developments has long been a controversial topic, hampered in part by the lack of empirical evidence. So this study is undertaken to investigate the effects of Internet penetration on democratization based on the panel data of 125 countries gathered from 1993 to 2014. The authors apply machine-learning method (i.e., random forest) to effectively screen the variables that are more closely related to democracy. The results of different estimation models reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between Internet penetration and democratization and also distinguish the impacts of the Internet on advanced and less advanced democracies. Then, we arrive at the conclusion that Internet penetration brings a late-starting advantage in the development of democracy for less advanced democracies. These conclusions are further confirmed by the robust test.

Research paper thumbnail of Does democracy cause innovation? An empirical test of the popper hypothesis

Research Policy, 2017

Democratic countries produce higher levels of innovation than autocratic ones, but does democrati... more Democratic countries produce higher levels of innovation than autocratic ones, but does democratization itself lead to innovation growth either in the short or in the long run? The existing literature has extensively examined the relationship between democracy and growth but seldom explored the effect of democracy on innovation, which might be an important channel through which democracy contributes to economic growth. This article aims to fill this gap and contribute to the long-standing debate on the relationship between democracy and innovation by offering empirical evidence based on a data set covering 156 countries between 1964 and 2010. The results from the difference-in-differences method show that democracy itself has no direct positive effect on innovation measured with patent counts, patent citations and patent originality.

Research paper thumbnail of Are Chinese college graduates satisfied with serving as village officials An evaluation with nationwide survey data

Journal of Asian Public Policy , 2018

To promote rural socio-economic development, the Chinese government has encouraged college gradua... more To promote rural socio-economic development, the Chinese government has encouraged college graduates to work in villages since 2005, bringing about a novel nonmarket-determined job called graduate village official. We use nationwide survey data to analyse the determinants of job satisfaction for graduate village officials. Empirical results show that the job satisfaction of graduate village officials is basically not determined by their personal traits, but by social contexts as well as job factors. Salary, occupational pride, adaption to rural work, supports from leaders and job prospects impact more on graduate village officials’ job satisfaction than other factors. Unreasonable policy management and implementation contribute to graduate village officials’ job dissatisfaction. Finally, we briefly discuss potential policy implications of our findings.

Research paper thumbnail of The Changing Structure of Political Opportunity and Political Participation

China Social Sciences Press, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Political Methodology

China Social Sciences Press, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding State Governance

Social Sciences Academic Press (China), 2016