The religious factor in private education

We quantify the religious factor in private education in the United States by calibrating a political economy model of school choice—among public, private-nonsectarian and subsidized religious schools—in which parents differ in their incomes and in their preferences for religious education. This shows strong latent demand for religious schooling, conditioned on current subsidized tuition levels in parochial schools, which is suppressed by the need to “pay twice” for private education. Applying the results of the calibration to gauge the effect of means-tested school voucher programs on religious and nonsectarian private enrollment, we find that when the amount of the voucher is relatively small, including subsidized religious schools in such programs is necessary for providing low-income families effective access to private education.     

改革地方公共管理的权利路径:巴西的经验

巴西的“公共管理与公民权”项目于1996年建立,其目的是发现和宣传由巴西次国家级政府在服务供给上的创新行为。这些创新时巴西的公民权建设产生了直接的影响。本文根据巴西的经验初步分析了从“权利”的路向改革公共管理,扩大其他机构和公民社会参与的可能性。     

中国农村社区公共物品投资的决定因素分析

本文使用具有全国代表性的抽样调查数据,对农村社区公共物品投资的决定因素进行了初步的分析。本文通过理论分析提出了两个理论假说,进而提出在我国公共投资中要注意的问题:既要考虑各地对公共投资有不同的需求,还要考虑区域协调发展。研究结果表明,除了一些政策因素以外,当地经济发展水平是影响农村公共投资的重要因素,一般来说,在工商业较发达的村公共投资活动也相对较多。对于外出务工人员较多的村,由于本地公共投资对外出务工人员的收入等作用较小,因此这部分村民就不那么愿意对村里进行公共投资。从政策实施角度看,本研究发现,上级政府的公共投资更多地投向贫困地区、偏远山区、农业生产条件差的地区或少数民族地区。这种投资战略有助于统筹区域发展,降低区域差异。     

东西方财政职能演进的启示与思考

从收入和支出两个方面研究西方财政职能的演进和中国经济转型时期财政职能的演变,对照现代西方公共财政的特点分析中国推行公共财政建设中存在的问题,探究建立公共财政进程中认识和发挥财政职能的思路。     

城乡税制统一:基于公共财政的分析视角

城乡分割的二元税制加重了农民负担,降低了我国农产品的国际竞争力,也有悖于市场经济的公平原则;在农村公共产品供给上,政府存在着职能缺位,这些都不利于建立城乡统一的公共财政。当前统一城乡税制面临着财政资金压力、税收征管能力、二元经济结构等方面因素的限制。统一城乡税制需要逐步完善城乡税收体系、加大政府对农村公共品投入以及深化基层人事制度改革和促进农业产业化等方面的配套改革。     

Refining the debate on GM crops using technological foresight—the Danish experience

Rapid developments in and the controversial nature of biotechnology call for communication, networks, partnerships, and collaboration in research, not just among researchers, but also between researchers and research “users” in industry, government, and elsewhere. Technological foresight appears to offer a coordinating method for developing and strengthening those linkages. To test this, a technological foresight study was performed on genetically modified (GM) crop technology in the Danish context. The background of the study was the conflict and intense debate in Denmark over applications of gene technology, especially over the deliberate release of genetically modified (GM) crops. However, the current debate characteristically involves sharply opposed fronts, lacking willingness and courage to engage in a free-flowing and open-minded debate on both rational and normative components of biosafety. In it, stakeholders and experts on both side of the conflict advocate widely differing opinions. Without a proper generally intelligible dialogue, the broader public audience finds it hard to comprehend this type of debate. The study pursues the notion that public dialogue can act as a driver of future applications in the technological domain, specifically GM crops. The study concluded with a stakeholder workshop that revealed three key issues that might provide helpful starting points for a more free-flowing and open-minded debate about the future of GM crops. The issues were those arising from the following statements: a broad perspective on risk is crucial; international regulation must make allowance for developing countries; a better configuration of the risk debate is needed. These issues are discussed in more details in the article.     

Simulation Analysis of Public Debt and Fiscal Deficit in Austria – Optimal Economic Policies for the Past and the Future

The macroeconometric simulation model AMOD1 and the optimization algorithm OPTCON are used to evaluate fiscal policies for Austria since the late seventies. In particular, the question of optimal (debt stabilizing) fiscal policies for the past and for the future is analyzed within the framework of a medium-scaled simulation model. The first set of optimization experiments aims to assess optimal fiscal policies for debt stabilization for the historical period 1978–2000 while trying to maintain reasonable growth rates of approximately 2 percent of real GDP. Optimal values of the instruments and the targets are compared to empirical data for Austria. A second set of simulations calculates optimal paths for the fiscal instruments for the period 2001-2010, particularly with respect to the criteria of the Stability and Growth Pact, which is mandatory for member states of the Euro zone.     

转轨中国公共品导出机制中的政府行为分析

本文从政府角度出发,对公益品和私益品的特性进行了重新思考,从偏好、福利二分、绩效衡量难易、制度环境、意识形态等角度考察政府行为的独特性.并以我国体制转轨的特殊时期为背景,分析了不同于西方代议制的政体下,在公共品导出机制中政府行为的复杂性,指出了制度上的缺陷和由此导致的一系列现实问题.     

公共投资与私人投资在我国农业增长中的作用及关系研究

在我国农业投资比重面临不断下降的形势下,本文考察了1985-2002年间我国农业投资对农业产出增长的作用,并进一步分析了农业公共投资与私人投资之间的关系,结果表明,农业投资对我国农业增长具有重要作用,农业公共投资与私人投资之间具有长期稳定的均衡关系,并且二者存在单向的因果关系.在此基础上,对结果进行了分析并给出了相应的政策含义.     

用企业精神改革政府--论政府如何提供公共产品

本提出用企业精神改革政府，将政府塑造成所提供公共产品与公众偏好相一致的政府、把竞争机制注入到提供服务中来的政府、讲究效率的政府、只掌舵而不划桨的政府。