财政压力、支出结构与公共服务质量--基于中国229个地级市面板数据的实证分析

提供优质高效的公共服务以满足辖区居民美好生活需要,是各级地方政府的重要职责之一。财税体制改革给地方政府带来的财政压力,会对其公共服务供给行为产生影响。在测度中国229个地级市公共服务质量与财政压力的基础上,构建系统GMM模型,实证分析地方财政压力对公共服务质量的影响。结果发现:地方财政压力对公共服务质量产生了非线性影响,当地方政府承压超过一定限度时,财政压力将显著降低辖区公共服务质量;实证结果因地区、城市规模不同而呈现异质性;不同种类公共服务间的质量差异,源于财政压力环境下地方政府调整财政支出结构的行为。为此,应将财政压力控制在适度范围内,优化财政支出结构,努力实现地区间公共服务质量相对均衡。

Financial Pressure,Expenditure Structure and Public Service Quality:Empirical Analysis from the Panel Data of 229 Cities in China

It is an important duty of local governments at all levels to provide high-quality and efficient public services to meet the needs of residents in the district.The financial pressure brought by the reform of the financial and tax system to local government will inevitably affect the public service supply behavior.Based on the measurement of public service quality and financial pressure in 229 prefecture level cities in China,the GMM model is constructed to analyze the impact of local financial pressure on the quality of public service.The results show that:local financial pressure has a nonlinear impact on the quality of public service.When the local government is under pressure beyond a certain limit,the financial pressure will significantly reduce the public service quality in the jurisdiction;the empirical results show heterogeneity due to the different size of the region and the city;the difference of quality among different kinds of public services stems from the behavior of local governments adjusting the structure of financial expenditure under the financial pressure.Therefore,we should control the financial pressure in a moderate range,optimize the structure of financial expenditure and strive to achieve a relatively balanced quality of public services among regions.