Doctoral Dissertation Research in Economics: Informal exchange and political power

本研究考察了中国农村小辖区政治领导人享有的私人利益，以及民主对这些利益的影响。贫困地区的村干部往往是“大人物”；他们的职位给了他们社会地位、回扣和其他来自市民的礼物，这些东西的总价值可能很大。人们非常感兴趣的是，民主能在多大程度上通过让领导人对公民负责来减轻这些私人收益。本研究通过构建中国农村社会网络的独特数据集来检验地方民主的影响。在被研究的村庄里，生活中的重大事件（出生、婚礼和葬礼）都是通过大型聚会来纪念的，人们在聚会上交换礼物，礼物的内容被记录在家庭持有的账本上。该研究项目将这些账簿数字化，涵盖了过去40年来收到的礼物，并从中重建了村庄社会和礼物网络的历史。如此详细、准确的关于贫困地区历史上礼品转移的数据，包括村领导之间的往来，是非常罕见的。本研究的主要贡献在于考察民主转型对非正式权威的影响。1985年至1995年，中国在所有农村实行了地方选举。通过分析政治家和领导人收到和赠送的礼物的数据，有可能确定更民主的制度对村当局非正式权力的影响。如果民主转型使村干部的权力来源（从共产党到村民）发生真正的转变，那么赠送给村干部的礼物就应该减少，村干部也应该进一步回赠礼物。该研究测试了地方民主机构是否成功地将一些领导人的非正式权力移交给了公民。此外，详细的礼品记录将有助于深入审查贫穷农村环境中的互惠和礼品交换制度。

This study examines the private benefits enjoyed by political leaders of small jurisdictions in rural China, and the effect of democracy on these benefits. Village leaders in poor settings are often "big shots;" their position affords them social status, kickbacks and other gifts from citizens, the value of which may be large in aggregate. The extent to which democracy can mitigate these private gains by making leaders accountable to citizens is of great interest.This study examines the effects of local democracy by constructing a unique data set on social networks in Chinese villages. In the studied villages, major life events (births, weddings and funerals) are commemorated by large gatherings where gifts are exchanged, and their content is recorded in an account book held by the family. The research project digitizes these account books, spanning gifts given over the last 40 years, and reconstructs the history of the village social and gift network from them. Such detailed, accurate data on historical gift transfers in a poor setting, including to and from village leaders, is very rare to find.The main contribution of the research is to examine the effect of a democratic transition on informal authority. China instituted local elections in all villages between 1985 and 1995. By analyzing data on gifts received and given by politicians and leaders, it is possible to identify the effect of more democratic institutions on the informal power of village authorities. If the democratic transition creates a genuine shift in the source of authority of village leaders (from Communist Party to the citizens of the village), the flow of gifts to leaders should diminish, and leaders should reciprocate gifts further. The study tests whether local democratic institutions are successful in transferring some of leaders' informal power to citizens.In addition, the detailed gift record will allow an in-depth examination of the institutions of reciprocity and gift exchange in a poor rural setting.