Replication data for: The Distortionary Effects of Incentives in Government: Evidence from China's "Death Ceiling" Program

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Raymond Fisman; Yongxiang Wang

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
APP2016-0008_data			10/12/2019 01:21:PM
LICENSE.txt	text/plain	14.6 KB	10/12/2019 09:21:AM

Project Citation:

Fisman, Raymond, and Wang, Yongxiang. Replication data for: The Distortionary Effects of Incentives in Government: Evidence from China’s “Death Ceiling” Program. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2017. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E113677V1

Project Description

Summary: We study a 2004 program designed to motivate Chinese bureaucrats to reduce accidental deaths. Each province received a set of "death ceilings" that, if exceeded, would impede government officials' promotions. For each category of accidental deaths, we observe a sharp discontinuity in reported deaths at the ceiling, suggestive of manipulation. Provinces with safety incentives for municipal officials experienced larger declines in accidental deaths, suggesting complementarities between incentives at different levels of government. While realized accidental deaths predict the following year's ceiling, we observe no evidence that provinces manipulate deaths upward to avoid ratchet effects in the setting of death ceilings.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      D73 Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
      J28 Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
      J45 Public Sector Labor Markets
      J81 Labor Standards: Working Conditions
      O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
      P26 Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Political Economy; Property Rights
      P36 Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions: Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training: Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty

Related Publications

Download this project

Published Versions

V1 [2019-10-12]

Export Metadata

Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

Report a Problem

Found a serious problem with the data, such as disclosure risk or copyrighted content? Let us know.

This material is distributed exactly as it arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.