Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4717-983X

Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Political Science

Committee Chair

Erik Herron

Committee Co-Chair

Bill Franko

Committee Member

Matthew Jacobsmeier

Committee Member

L. Christopher Plein

Abstract

Research on decentralization has emphasized that the distribution of power between the national and local levels has different effects on various outcomes. This dissertation aims to contribute to this discussion by shedding light on the three types of decentralization (political, fiscal, and administrative) and their effect on two main outcomes: the production of technological and intellectual innovation and COVID-19 management. I argue that decentralization – including its three types – works differently under different conditions, resulting in different outcomes. That is, fiscal and administrative decentralization empower local decision-makers to make autonomous decisions, which can be beneficial for promoting innovation, but unhelpful during nationwide disasters like COVID-19. I also argue that political decentralization per se would be a machine with no function, meaning, I expect it would have no influencing role in increasing economic innovation or decreasing the COVID-19 outcomes. This dissertation provides an in-depth discussion of this relationship among East Asian countries, with a particular focus on Mongolia – the least studied country in that region. The dissertation relies on quantitative and qualitative methods, such as large-N statistical analyses, Textual Network analyses, and semi-structured interviews with Mongolian local decision-makers. The results of those analyses and interviews show that decentralization does matter in explaining East Asian nations' level of innovation and the success/failure of their COVID-19 management. The interviews conducted with Mongolian local decision-makers provide evidence that the country is low fiscally and administratively decentralized. This low empowerment negatively influences the local levels' ability to promote innovation and to have an autonomous decision during nationwide disasters.

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