State Power Attracts Talent: Evidence From China’s Civil Servant Fever

Bo Feng, Qiwei He, Xin Jin, Xu Xu, School of Public Administration and Policy, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, School of Economics, University of Edinburgh, Independent Scholar, Department of Politics and School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

Comparative Political Studies

Published online on June 15, 2026

Abstract

Comparative Political Studies, Ahead of Print.
Why are government jobs so attractive to talented individuals in many non-democratic countries? We identify state power as a key factor. We analyze the impact of China’s recent value-added tax reform, an expansion of taxation power, on citizens’ ...