  We build a formal model that examines how different policymaking environments
shape career-concerned officials' reform decisions and implementation. When
career concerns are strong, officials will inefficiently initiate reforms to
signal to the central government that they are congruent. To improve the
quality of reform policymaking, the central government must hold officials
accountable to policy outcomes. We demonstrate that the central government can
exercise this accountability by requiring officials to publicize policy
outcomes while maintain secrecy on implementation details. In this situation,
officials can signal their congruence only through a desirable policy outcome,
so they are highly motivated to carry out a reform well. We also demonstrate
that the accountability on policy outcomes is infeasible under alternative
policymaking environments. We apply the results to China's recent practice in
decentralized reform policymaking.
