In many developing countries, the public is shifting its focus from economic growth to quality-of-life issues. As a result, there is extensive demand for better public administration of quality-of-life issues, ranging from air pollution to food safety problems, that threaten ordinary peoples' health and daily lives. This article analyzes the determinants of public perceptions of food safety and the administrative effects of regional governance in different provinces with nationwide survey data. A two-level hierarchical linear regression model (HLM) with provincial factors as background-level variables and demographic factors as individual-level variables was developed to measure the influence of these factors on public perceptions of food safety. The results showed that female, young, and well-educated urban residents perceived greater risks to food safety than other groups. Administrative fiscal expenditures and local normative documents in different provinces did not have significant effects on public perceptions of food safety. However, food safety inspections weakened public perceptions of food safety. We thereby suggest that provincial governments invest in more efficient food safety projects and enhance the publicity of normative documents in popular media.
Keywords: administration; food safety; food safety inspection; local governance; perceptions.