Redai dili (Sep 2022)
Spatiotemporal Differentiation, Linked Network, and Control Measures of Senior Officials' Duty Crimes in China
Abstract
This study aimed to observe the sociodemographic characteristics of Chinese senior officials who have committed duty crimes as well as the spatial-temporal heterogeneity of their work place and the social network between the offenders. Further, this study aimed to investigate the formation mechanism of Chinese duty crimes and suggest prevention and control measures. Thus, we conducted text analysis, mathematical statistics, and spatial analysis based on data from 321 officials who were at sub-provincial level or above and committed crimes in China from 1985 to 2020. The results showed that: (1) The number of male officials were significantly higher than their female counterparts, the majority of officials who first disciplined and violated laws were middle-aged, and most of them were middle-aged and older adults when they were disciplined. The criminal charges were mainly corruption and bribery, and crimes mainly occurred in the energy enterprise, government department, and central government-led enterprise. (2) In terms of time, the first time the officials disciplined and violated the laws were concentrated between 1988 and 2008, showing "high fluctuation with three peaks at 1994, 2000, and 2003." The number of offenders showed the trend of "four peaks" and can be divided in to two groups: 2001 and 2004, 2014 and 2017, first increased slightly and thereafter rapidly. After 2011, the number has increased approximately straight, indicating social and economic changes and anti-corruption efforts. (3) Regarding space, most officials resided in North China, East China, and Central China, with hotspots appearing in Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Tianjin, Beijing, and parts of Henan, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces. The officials' work places were concentrated in North China, East China, and Central China, with hotspots and clusters in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and Shanxi provinces with a few clusters in Henan, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Guangdong provinces. Most of the officials who changed their places of employment moved to Beijing until they were disciplined, and 36.57% of them worked in their hometown until discipline. The radiation effect of the offenders' criminal behavior appeared to rely on geo-relationships and relatives and friends, take the officials themselves as the center, the members of the officials' social network relations are the key nodes to radiate outward, the criminal trajectories forming the "mobile criminal network" with characteristics of personal life trajectories. (4) Public choice theory can explain the emergence of duty crimes. Officials will take their own conditions and external environment into consideration, compare the costs and benefits of the crime and decide whether to commit duty crimes. These findings suggest that duty crimes can be comprehensively prevented and managed from various aspects.
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