Introduction
With any topic, how one approaches research plays a significant role in what data
one is able to collect, what arguments and conclusions one is able to draw, how confident
one can be in these arguments and conclusions, and what the specific strong and weak
points of the arguments and conclusions are likely to be. In recent years, scholars have
become increasingly concerned with discerning and defining the appropriate levels of
analysis for the study of important political and social phenomena. Many have been
drawn to the analysis of “subnational units” as an alternative to looking only at national-
level institutions, outcomes, and processes.
This paper draws on the analysis of state
sector lay-offs in China to argue for the merits of a particular type of subnational
comparative analysis.
In favor of subnational comparative analysis, Richard Snyder has argued that a
focus on units below the national level can help guard against two problems, which he
labels “mean-spirited analysis” and invalid part-to-whole mappings.
analysis is the practice, common in cross-national research, of using aggregate national-
level indicators as a proxy for more detailed knowledge of different parts of a particular
country – i.e. assuming that all parts of a country resemble its national mean, when in fact
no localities may match the country’s aggregate-level score.
Invalid part-to-whole mappings are often, though not exclusively, linked to
qualitative case study analysis. As Snyder puts it, “invalid part-to-whole mappings result
1
On this point, see: James Mahoney and Dietrich Rueschmeyer “Comparative Historical Analysis:
Achievments and Agendas” in Mahoney and Rueschmeyer eds. “Comparative Historical Analysis in the
Social Sciences” Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 2003 – p.14. This is, however, not such a new
phenomenon. See, for example: Juan J. Linz and Armando de Miguel “Within-Nation Differences and
Comparisions: the Eight Spains” in Merritt and Rokkan eds. “Comparing Nations; the Use of Quantitative
Data in Cross-National Research” New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966.
2
Richard Snyder “Scaling Down: The Subnational Comparative Method” Studies in Comparative
International Development, Volume 36, Number 1 (Spring 2001) – pp.98-100.
2
Convention