Research on the Factors Influencing an Incumbent County Commissioner or City Mayor Considering the Promotion of a Female Chief ¡V the Application of Exchange Theory Summary In the past the research on the topics related with the promotions of female employees was primarily conducted from the viewpoints of administrative management, psychology, physiology, social psychology, and feminism. There is no evidence that the exchange theory was used to explain the factors of such promotion. Since the Taiwan province was reorganized and trimmed down, county and city governments have de facto become the new power centers of Taiwan¡¦s political society. The personnel authority of county commissioners and city mayors has accordingly augmented. This study, the first in trying to use the exchange theory as the framework for research and analysis, observed whether such variables as the degree of urbanization, the commissioner¡¦ or mayor¡¦s political party affiliation, gender, age, and education had any impact on his/her choosing the exchange resources (exchange objects) when he/she was promoting a female chief. The 13th incumbent county commissioners and city mayors of the Taiwan province were selected as the subjects of this study, and the Likert five-point scale was used to administer questionnaire investigation. The gathered data were treated with such statistical methods as frequency distribution, the ratio in terms of percentage, the mean, and Pearson¡¦s cumulative differential analysis. Based on an empirical analysis, the study has found: in promoting a female chief that has a firm sense of gender egalitarianism, the county commissioner or city mayor is more likely to consider her chief¡¦s ability to achieve a stated level of administrative effectiveness than the factor of sex. In order to avoid boycotting by different factions, the county commissioner or city mayor usually appoints the promoted female chief to a less conspicuous position instead of a position that requires administrative performance. When the county commissioner or city mayor receives recommendations for such an appointment, he/she usually gives the favor to an important vote solicitor that he/she is indebted to so as to alleviate his/her sense of indebtedness. The county commissioner or city mayor is also likely to appoint a female that has applauded his/her administrative merits in public as a way to return the favor. Moreover, the county commissioner or city mayor of a more urbanized territory is more likely to attach importance to modern compensation and modern resources; that of a less urbanized territory is more likely to depend on traditional compensation and traditional resources. County commissioners and city mayors affiliated with the Kuomingtan are most likely to use traditional compensations and resources, followed by those without political affiliation, then by those affiliated with the Democratic Progressive Party. County commissioners and city mayors without any political affiliation are most likely to use modern compensations and resources, followed by those affiliated with the Democratic Progressive Party, then by those affiliated with the Kuomingtang. In comparison with their male counterpart, female commissioners and mayors are more likely to use modern compensations and resources. In contrast, male commissioners and mayors are more likely to use traditional compensations and resources. There is no significant correlation between ages and the selection of compensation and expected resources. The commissioners or mayors with better education are more likely to use modern compensation and resources. As the study has gained the support of empirical evidence, it is believed that the analytical framework of this study can be used to investigate the exchange behavior in personnel promotions in other agencies in Taiwan so as to accumulate more factual findings and hypotheses that can be applied in the future. A step further, such data can help construct empirical theories that can explain social exchange behavior changes. Keyword: county commissioner and city mayor, promotion, female chief, exchange theory