ABSTRACT
This article proposes a theoretical explanation of the diffusion of public service innovation within authoritarian China. The authoritarian structure in China demonstrates two features: (1) the coexistence of vertical administrative centralization and fiscal decentralization and (2) the official personnel system based on performance evaluation, which results in horizontal competition among local government officials. Moreover, with the changes in the governance ideology of the central government, the performance evaluation system continues to be updated and enriched, thereby affecting the behaviours of local governments.
