February 23, 2026 11:46AM # Centralized Versus Local Policymaking: Evidence from China By [Jeffrey Miron](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-miron) --- SHARE Listen to this article Generated with [ ElevenLabs](https://elevenlabs.io/) AI technology. Loading the [Elevenlabs Text to Speech](https://elevenlabs.io/text-to-speech) AudioNative Player... At the core of many public policy decisions is the question of centralization. Libertarians prefer leaving policy to local governments while acknowledging that local control can have downsides. [A recent study](https://www.cato.org/research-briefs-economic-policy/laboratories-autocracy-centralized-versus-decentralized) addresses this issue by examining a wide swath of China’s local policy initiatives from 2004 to 2020, a period of increased centralization. The study finds that > policy making in China is highly decentralized … \[but that from 2013 to 2020\] … decentralized policymaking has declined dramatically. In terms of policy success, the analysis indicates that > locally initiated policies that spread between local governments tended to be associated with higher local suitability and better economic outcomes …. In contrast, top-down industrial policies initiated by the central government showed weaker alignment with local conditions. On the other hand, local > bureaucratic rivalry stifles the spread of local policy innovations—especially those most suitable for a given locality—and dampens economic performance …. Centralization alleviates these problems, since local bureaucrats no longer worry about political competitors receiving credit for implementing top-down policies. Overall, the study concludes that decentralized governance structures enable more effective local policies. This is consistent with the libertarian perspective. *Cross-posted from* [*Substack*](https://jeffreymiron.substack.com/p/immigration-restrictions-cause-enforcement)*.* ##### Related Tags [Libertarianism](https://www.cato.org/libertarianism) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).