Beyond deterrent enforcement styles: Behavioural intuitions of Chinese environmental law enforcement agents in a context of challenging inspections

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Liu, Ning; Van Rooij, Benjamin; Lo, Carlos Wing-Hung
• 署名单位: City University of Hong Kong; University of California System; University of California Irvine; University of Amsterdam; Chinese University of Hong Kong
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3298
• DOI: 10.1111/padm.12415
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 497-512
• 关键词: regulatory enforcement; COMMITMENT; pollution; officials; injuries

摘要

This article extends the study of regulatory enforcement on three levels. First, it separates enforcement style elements during inspections and sanction decision-making work, creating a more realistic measurement. Second, it focuses on how these elements function in a context where it is hard in practice to achieve deterrence. Third, it assesses how agents view the effectiveness of combinations of style elements in such a context. To do so, it uses survey and interview data with street-level environmental officials in Guangzhou, China. It finds that the agents studied practise enforcement that goes beyond deterrence and uses education and persuasion more effectively. It finds that the behavioural assumptions of these agents are to a large extent in line with the available regulatory literature, although agents are very unlikely to have consulted such studies. Therefore, the article concludes that law enforcement agents can develop nuanced and appropriate behavioural intuitions through their everyday work experiences.