Of time, leadership, and governance: Elite incentives and stability maintenance in China
利用乡镇领导与社会抗争的独特调查数据，研究发现外部调任的党委书记比内部晋升者面临更多信访和群体事件，且更倾向使用强制手段，但若与内部晋升的乡镇长搭档则有所缓解。
China's party‐controlled elite appointment system has been praised for contributing to growth and order in recent decades. Inspired by Mancur Olson's insight into elite incentives and governance, we examine how the Chinese practices of elite management affect the character of governance using unique survey and interview data on township leaders and social contention. We find that, first, externally appointed party secretaries experience more petitions and mass incidents during their tenure and are more likely to use coercion to deal with petitions than internally appointed secretaries. Second, these tendencies are moderated when externally appointed party secretaries are paired with internally appointed township heads We explore the implications of such behavioral differences and suggest our findings are of broad significance for understanding governance in China.