Study On The Supply Of International Public Goods From Collective Action Perspective ——An Analytical Framework And The Application

With the development of globalization, the transnational public issues have increased, such as global warming, international terrorism, international spread of infectious diseases, and the global financial crisis. Solving these transnational public problems can benefit many and even all the countries around the world, so these in essence are international public goods. However, the provision of international public goods cannot meet the increasing demand of residents from all over the world, and many key fields of international public goods are in serious shortage. As a result, the imbalance between international public goods supply and demand needs urgent solution both from theory and practice. At the same time, for China, the world’s largest developing country, how to deal with the challenges brought by globalization, and actively explore the way of international public goods supply with Chinese characteristics has become an important subject.As traditional public goods theory shows, government is an effective mechanism to implement public goods supply. However, at present the whole international society are based upon the Westphalia system, a kind of typical anarchy, in which many countries have its independent sovereignty. This means the provision of international public goods is different with the traditional public goods which rely mainly on the government supply, it can only rely on voluntary cooperation between countries. But according to international practice, it is hard to negotiate and coordinate between countries in many fields, such as control of greenhouse gases, eliminating international terrorism, prohibiting the spread of nuclear weapons, and fighting international crime. At the same time, we also noticed some successful international cooperation, such as curbing ozone consumption, eliminating smallpox, establishing international transportation and communication networks and controlling open ocean transportation.So, what factors promote or inhibit international public goods supply? Why has some international public goods been successfully supplied, and others are in trouble? How to overcome the supply dilemma? What role will the international institutions play? In order to promote international cooperation, and realize international public goods supply, what kind of international institutional arrangements should be adopted? For these problems, the theory of collective action provides a useful perspective and insights for us. Because the core of the collective action theory is how the group members provide public goods for the group by the way of collective choice to realize the common interests. Therefore, this paper first builds a theoretical analytical framework for international public goods supply based on the perspective of collective action.The specific logical connotation of this framework is as following:under the new world economic pattern international public goods supply can’t rely on the world government with supranational authority, and also cannot be achieved through unilateral hegemony countries supply, but can only take the way of voluntary cooperation from all over the world, through transnational collective action. For a rational nation-state, whether to participate in collective action depends on cost-benefit structure based on his own interest. If the benefit is greater than the cost, the nation-state will participate in. But if the benefit is less than the cost, the nation-state will not participate in. So, it is important to identify the incentive or inhibiting factors, because this is the premise to promote the countries to take collective action. Considering international public goods supply by transnational collective action is the result of the interaction between the supply subject and object, this paper analyses international public goods supply from the object attribute and subject characteristic. For some international public goods, its own conditions will help collective action. But most of international public goods supply will trap the dilemma of collective action, so reasonable motivation is needed by the international institutional arrangements. Because effective will change the cost-benefit structure, and set up effective connection between the supply subject and object, and then finally overcome the dilemma of collective action to achieve more adequate supply of international public goods.In order to prove the practicability of this theoretical theory framework, this paper applies it for analyzing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the New Development Banks (NDB).On the basis of the above research thought, this paper is divided into eight chapters:Chapter 1 is the introduction, including research background and significance, key definition, the research hypothesis, research methods and framework, as well as innovations and inadequacies.Chapter 2 is literature review, concentrating on the collective action theory and international public goods supply research. By reviewing and summarizing the relevant research results lay the foundation for analyzing the international public goods supply problem from the perspective of collective action.Chapter 3 analyzes the impact of the object attribute on international public goods supply. Three dimensions of public goods attributes which include non-competitive, non-exclusive and the aggregation technologies influence the motivation for a nation-state whether to participate in international public goods supply.Chapter 4 analyzes the impact of the subject characteristics on international public goods supply. Based on the theory of collective action, group size and composition are the two core factors which influence collective action. Therefore, this chapter analyzes the incentive effects of number and composition of nation-states on transnational collective action respectively from the perspectives of independent behavior and joint behavior.Chapter 5 discusses the international institutional arrangements to promote international public goods supply. Based on the research to overcome the collective action dilemma, and the object attribute and the subject characteristic of international public goods supply, this chapter discusses international institutional arrangements which could have correct incentive on the supply of international public goods.Chapter 6 applies international public goods supply analytical framework based on collective action to explain the establishment of AIIB. This chapter first clarifies the international public goods attribute of AIIB, and then analyzes the characteristics of member nation-states. Finally we analyze the collective action mechanism of the establishment of AIIB. The research results show that because of Asian nation’s heterogeneity, countries have different strategy selection based on their interests and other countries’behavior, and then implement their respective roles in the global collective action under the guidance of the principles of maximum profit. Specifically, along with the rising of China which is the largest developing countries, actively acts as the role of leader, organizes and coordinates related work, and other nation-states choose to follow or not participate for their own sake.Chapter 7 applies international public goods supply analytical framework based on collective action to explain the establishment of NDB. This chapter first clarifies the international public goods attribute of NDB. Secondly, we analyze the characteristics of member nation-states. And then we clarify the dilemma of the established of NDB. Finally, the paper explains the establishment mechanism of NDB. The results show that the establishment mechanism and path of NDB are different from AIIB. The key of establishment of NDB is international institutional arrangements which strengthen the cooperation incentive.Chapter 8 is the foothold of this paper. Based on China’s perspective, this chapter mainly discusses China’s status position, the corresponding supply strategies and specific measures in international public goods supply.The innovations of this paper are as following:1. Building a systematic analytical framework of international public goods supplyBased on the theory of collective action, this paper builds a general analytical framework to explore international public goods supply problems, and expand the scope of the collective action theory. This paper analyzes the incentive and inhibiting factors in international public goods supply from two aspects:object attribute and subject characteristic of international public goods supply, and based on the above analysis, it explores international institutional arrangements which can promote incentives. Therefore, the research helps to deepen the understanding of the essence of international public goods supply problems, and provides a more systematic explanation and guidance for stimulating the nation-state to conform the institutional design and arrangement on the premise of the pursuit of self-interest maximization.2. Developing a dynamic game model of international public goods supply based on the nation heterogeneityMany scholars such as Olson (1971), Russett (1971), and Sandler (2004), have noticed the influence of nation heterogeneity on transnational collective action. Compared to small nation-states, great powers share a bigger chunk of benefit from international public goods, and have more incentive to supply, so heterogeneity of nation-states helps transnational collective action. But their analysis mainly based on static analysis, and lacks a dynamic game process between the nation-states. Therefore, considering the existence of heterogeneity and strategic interaction between countries, this paper sets up a dynamic game model of international public goods supply. Results show that because of the existence of nation-state heterogeneity, the different nation-states may act as a leader, follower, or free riders in the process of transnational collective action.3. Anaylzing systematically the establishments of AIIB and NDB from the perspective of international public goods supplyThe current research about AIIB and NDB which are newly set up regional international organizations (respectively established on July 15,2014, and October 24, 2014), focus on the field of international relations and international politics, lacking of the analysis from the economic perspective. This paper applies our analytical framework to explain the nature and the mechanism of the establishment of AIIB and NDB. The results show that the existence of heterogeneity between Asian nations is the main reason for the establishment of AIIB, especially China’s role as a great power. But the establishment of NDB relies largely on the international institutional arrangements which enhanced the cooperation motivation.