Policy entrepreneurship and the management of transboundary externalities in the Greater Pearl River Delta Region

Abstract

Diametrically asymmetrical governance, apparent in the relationship between the reunited unhappy bedfellows that are Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and mainland Chinese governments, creates needless problems and hurdles in tackling transboundary environmental externalities in the Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) region from an institutional standpoint. The One country, Two systems framework upholds the political divide between the SAR and mainland China, and this division has significantly hindered inter-governmental cooperation across the boundary. Although cross-boundary platforms have been built to facilitate cooperation, governments of the GPRD region have only managed disparate attempts in confronting environmental problems such as regional smog and seawater pollution.

Despite the persistence of these environmental problems, only a limited amount of research had been conducted on the institutional challenges faced by the GPRD region when managing its transboundary externalities. This thesis incorporates the frameworks of governance, policy entrepreneurship and policy diffusion to offer a novel perspective in understanding environmental cooperation in this context. It addresses the question of how and to what extent policy entrepreneurs have tackled the GPRD’s environmental externalities, by analysis of the actions taken by these unique actors and the effects of such actions. In addressing this question, detailed explanations are provided to delineate the limit to, and progress made in, cross-boundary environmental cooperation.

Through the application of the case study method, analysis centring on three specific issues of the GPRD’s transboundary environmental cooperation was conducted. The first case study investigates Hong Kong and Guangdong governments’ joint efforts to establish the Pearl River Delta Regional Air Quality Monitoring Network. It illustrates the journey that was undertaken by a Hong Kong government official, acting as a policy entrepreneur, to bring about this Network. Secondly, the case study of marine emission control bears witness to a policy entrepreneur’s transition from the non-state to the state sector, and the implications associated with the change of her social position. Finally, research was conducted on cross-boundary cooperative attempts to protect Deep Bay’s wetland habitat, an extremely valuable ecological sanctuary located in the delta region. This case study offers a rare glimpse of NGOs acting as policy entrepreneurs in a boundary region where their role has been constrained.

In consonance with the literature, this thesis argues that in order to circumvent the constellation of obstacles blocking effectual transboundary environmental management, the presence of multiple cross-boundary platforms, benefiting from the inputs of different combinations of state and non-state actors, is required. Furthermore, ample evidence from this study have shown that processes of policy diffusion act as important triggers for more intensive forms of cross-boundary cooperation. Accordingly, the policy diffusion concept has great significance in furthering the study of cross-boundary cooperation.

The findings derived from this study amply demonstrate that the outcomes of policy entrepreneurial actions are highly contingent upon the political context of the region and broader contextual factors which lie beyond the GPRD. Key structural and systemic problems were also elucidated to account for the grossly imbalanced prospects for state and non-state policy entrepreneurs operating in this region.