Pandemic control vs. economic recovery: understanding the dynamics of work and production resumption policy in local China

Abstract How local governments respond to the COVID-19 pandemic has received much scholarly attention. The existing literature mainly focuses on epidemic prevention, while the contradictory policy goals of pandemic control and economic recovery are less investigated. How do local governments respond to such tasks with tension? This article approaches the question by analysing the policy divergence between central and local governments under the influence of the conflicting goals. Utilising an original dataset of policy divergence in work and production resumption policies between central and 244 municipal governments in China, this study finds that pandemic control is the priority of local governments, and the rationality-based logic rather than the capacity-based logic is followed by local leaders when formulating policy responses. The results extend the theoretical understanding of local governments’ policy response under pandemic conditions and provide a theoretical basis for better management of the pandemic in practice.