| Summary: | <p>Does administrative reform boost the favorable business environment? What is the mechanism underlying such reform? This study explores the relationship between administrative reform and the business environment in China via a mixed-method approach. This paper extends administrative burden theory to government-company interactions and then proposes a framework that bridges administrative reform and the business environment. Based on firm-level survey data and case data, this quantitative analysis confirms that administrative reform can significantly boost the favorable business environment and that administrative burden is a mediating variable during this process. The qualitative comparative analysis contends that there are three different configurations that can boost the favorable business environment: collaborative governance, government-driven, and enterprise-driven configurations. Theoretically, this paper extends the administrative burden theory, which brings companies into this theory as new actors. We also provide reform advice for practitioners.</p>
|
|---|