Food safety policy coordination in three Chinese cities

Abstract

Politicians make institutional choices for the delivery of public services, including the regulation of food safety, based on the incentive systems in which they operate. The incentives to manage agency problems (a manifestation of which may be poor coordination) vary from regime to regime. In mainland China the dilemma of serving multiple principals is almost entirely an internal (bureaucratic) affair. In Taiwan the problem of multiple principals is arguably more complex because politicians must win elections to stay in office. Both arrangements provide powerful but different sorts of incentives to manage food safety agency problems. In Hong Kong although the political executive is not elected, public opinion is also significant. Regime change in Hong Kong also impacted institutional choices. Based on the melamine tainted milk powder case exposed in 2008 the paper shows how regime differences impact the incentive system for politicians and thus their institutional choices for the coordination of food safety policy.