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Applying Cost Reduction Managerial Strategies in Government Agencies: Lessons from the Chinese Government Reform

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Abstract

This study examines the application of cost reduction managerial strategies in Chinese government agencies to understand their contributions to the literature of government reform. The study first provides a review of studies on the Chinese government reforms and in three cost reduction managerial strategies: laying-off employees, merging units, and targeting hidden costs. It then explains the research data and analytical techniques used to compare the importance and implementation of the three strategies and test the influence of personal and organizational factors to the strategies. The study concludes with discussions about lessons from the Chinese reform and implications for future studies.

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Notes

  1. Besides the downsizing government employees and agencies emphasized in this study, studies of other government reforms, please refer to: civil service reforms (e.g., Aufrecht & Li, 1995; Burns & Wang, 2010; Chan & Li, 2007), fiscal and tax reforms (e.g., Brys et al., 2013; Gao, 2018; Holzer & Zhang, 2004; Huang & Ge, 2019); regulatory reforms (e.g., Pearson, 2007; Zhang & Gong, 2023), and state-owned enterprises reform (e.g., Lin, 2021; Lin et al., 2020; Yu, 2019).

  2. The numbers of participants and their response rates are related to the background of the three universities’ public administration programs. The first two universities’ public administration programs have more graduate students compared to the program in the third university. In addition, the response rates may be influenced by the researcher’s visiting time in these programs, as more time was spent in the first two programs.

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  1. School of Public Administration, University of Central Florida, Downtown Campus, Room 448S, W Livingston St., Orlando, FL, 32801, USA

    Kuotsai Tom Liou

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Liou, K.T. Applying Cost Reduction Managerial Strategies in Government Agencies: Lessons from the Chinese Government Reform. Public Organiz Rev (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-024-00767-z

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