Dr. Armin Müller and Prof. Dr. Tobias ten Brink from project B05 "Inclusion and Benefit Dynamics in the Chinese Welfare Regime" contributed an article in "Asian Politics & Policy".
In the article "Lesson-drawing under authoritarianism: Generosity and cost control in China's hospital payment reforms" (Asian Politics & Policy 2023), Armin Müller and Tobias ten Brink (TP B05) examine recent hospital payment reforms in Chinese cities against their historical background. Using process tracing, the authors reconstruct two waves of reforms from a lesson-drawing perspective, triangulating different data sources (expert interviews, administrative documents, academic studies, and newspaper articles).
Local governments were the driving force behind a first wave of reform in the 1990s. It was dominated by simplified versions of international models that did not include strong prospective payment components and thus protected the interests of local governments and hospitals. In a second wave beginning in the 2000s, the impetus came from central government, leading to greater adoption of syntheses of international models and adaptations with more prospective payment components – and a stronger focus on patient interests. It is noted that significant pressure from the central government was necessary to minimize the bureaucratic self-interest of local governments in more low-cost reform.
Contact:
Dr. Armin Müller
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy, Research IV and China Global Center
Campus Ring 1
28759 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 200-3473
E-Mail: armmueller@constructor.university
Prof. Dr. Tobias ten Brink
CRC 1342: Global Dynamics of Social Policy, Research IV and China Global Center
Campus Ring 1
28759 Bremen
Phone: +49 421 200-3382
E-Mail: ttenbrink@constructor.university
