Policy Tools, Objectives, and Actors: A Study on Cross-regional Governance for the Regional Cooperative Development of the Pinglu Canal Area

Examining the structural characteristics and deficiencies of the current policy system for the regional cooperative development of the Pinglu Canal can provide theoretical support for improving policy supply and promoting high-quality regional coordination. Based on the three-dimensional analysis framework of "policy tools-policy objectives-policy actors", this paper uses the content analysis method to sort out the policy texts of Pinglu Canal regional development and governance, and conducts a quantitative analysis of the categorized policy texts. The study shows that the current development and governance policies of the Pinglu Canal region have problems, such as unbalanced structure of local government policy tools, insufficient coordination of policy objectives, and the underdeveloped agency of policy actors. Accordingly, this paper proposes improving policy supply by optimizing the combination of policy tools, balancing policy objective allocation, and strengthening collaborative governance among diverse policy actors, thereby promoting high-quality development in the cross-regional governance of the Pinglu Canal region.