The Institutional Logic of Salt Tax Culture in the Lianghuai Region and Its Implications for Contemporary Tax Administration: A Study Based on the Image of Salt Merchants

Aims: This study re-examines the institutional dimensions of Lianghuai salt-tax culture by considering the public image of salt merchants, analyses the operation of the salt-tax system during the Qing dynasty, and explores its implications for contemporary tax administration. Study Design: The study combines historical institutional analysis with a comparative examination of contemporary tax governance. Methodology: Using historical institutional analysis, the paper examines rules governing market entry, salt-certificate quotas, designated territories, and transferable operating rights, and traces their effects on merchant roles and institutional reform. It then compares the resulting governance mechanisms with selected contemporary tax-administration instruments while noting the limits of the analogy. Results: Merchants’ commercial activities and income opportunities were shaped by state regulation, market organisation, and the allocation of institutionally granted rights. The state-supervised, merchant-operated system relied on merchants to organise salt distribution and facilitate tax collection, while the capitalisation of operating rights generated opportunities for institutional rents and associated regulatory risks. The Huaibei salt-ticket reform illustrates the importance of adapting administrative arrangements to changing market conditions. Four governance mechanisms emerge: oversight through key transaction nodes, collaboration with market participants, supervision of rights and responsibilities, and institutional adaptation. Conclusion: Understanding Lianghuai salt merchants requires moving beyond assessments of wealth, privilege, and individual conduct to examine the institutional structures shaping their behaviour. The governance experience embedded in Lianghuai salt-tax culture offers historical insights into identifying dispersed tax bases, collaborating with market participants, defining responsibilities, and improving contemporary tax administration.