Public spending and growth: The role of government accountability

This paper examines the role of institutions in the nexus between public spending and economic growth. Empirical results based on a newly assembled dataset of 80 countries over the 1970–2010 period suggest that particularly when institutions prompt governments to be accountable to the general citizen does public capital spending promote growth. Taking account of the type of financing for this spending, we show that the growth-promoting effect under an accountable government appears to prevail for various financing sources, including a reallocation from current spending, an increase in revenue, and a rise in the budget deficit. However, government accountability does not seem to play a key role in the growth effects of current spending.     

增长失衡与政府责任——基于社会性支出角度的分析

当前中国的发展出现了以国富与民生关系失衡为本质特征的增长失衡。本文从教育、医疗和社会保障等与民生有关的政府责任切入,指出当前中国与民生状况直接相关的政府社会性支出的不足,是导致增长失衡的重要原因。为此,政府应在提供教育、医疗和社会保障等方面承担起基本的责任,加快财政支出结构转型,增加社会性支出的比重,改善民生状况,纠正增长失衡;并通过社会性支出的增加,促进人力资本积累,推动增长路径的转变,实现经济长期健康发展。     

Fiscal transparency,government effectiveness and government spending efficiency: Some international evidence based on panel data approach

The global financial crisis and the debt crisis of the EU countries revealed serious weaknesses in fiscal reporting. As a consequence, uncertainties regarding the real situation of the public accounts of the countries raised doubts in relation to the effectiveness of government policies. Since then, countries are undertaking reforms in order to improve fiscal transparency. This paper analyzes whether countries are making efforts to enhance fiscal transparency, and whether fiscal transparency affects government effectiveness and government spending efficiency. We consider two channels through which this effect occurs. The first channel is indirect and it works through public debt. The second channel is the direct effect that transparency has on government effectiveness and government spending efficiency once transparency enhances accountability and thus the task of resource allocation. We use a sample of 82 countries (68 developing and 14 developed) for the period 2006–2014, and panel data analysis. Comparing the scores of fiscal transparency between 2006 and 2014, we observe that approximately 80 per cent of the countries made efforts to improve fiscal transparency. The results suggest fiscal transparency is important to reduce public debt and to improve government effectiveness and government spending efficiency.     

Financing government investment and its implications for public capital: A small open economy perspective

Expenditure reductions played a key role in many small open economies during fiscal consolidation, with large declines in public investment. This led to a reduction in public capital stock and affected the competitiveness of these economies. After the sovereign debt crisis, the governments that consider increasing investment to replenish the public capital stock have limited fiscal space and have to avoid external imbalances. We show that using budget-neutral investment spending can generate long-term benefits of higher public capital stock while at the same time limiting negative consequences for the public finances and the trade balance. The best way of financing government investment, which preserves fiscal and trade balances, and increases welfare, is by reducing other government spending. The second-best is financing investment with value-added tax. Financing with debt worsens fiscal and trade balances, while using distortionary labour taxes reduces labour supply, increases wage costs and worsens the trade deficit in the short run.     

内生农业技术进步的二元经济增长模型——对“东亚奇迹”和中国经济的再解释

通过吸收内生增长理论的思想 ,修正外生农业技术进步的假设 ,本文提出了一个内生农业技术进步的二元经济增长模型 ,并以此对倍受瞩目也颇多争议的“东亚奇迹”及中国经济 ,从二元经济结构转换的角度进行了分析。本文认为 ,“东亚奇迹”是传统农业劳动力不断转向现代非农业部门的结果 ;是现代部门以资本反哺传统部门 ,推动农业技术进步 ,促进劳动力转移的结果 ;也是现代部门均衡发展 ,吸纳剩余劳动力 ,加速结构转换的结果。因此 ,虽然非农部门的全要素生产率提高不够显著 ,但劳动力结构转换仍然推动经济实现了持久的高速增长。     

政府与市场的权衡:一个比较分析

本文主要对政府和市场的权衡从一般原理和作用机制的视角进行了比较分析,并对相关分析进行了模型化.政府有政府的优势和长处,市场有市场的优势和长处,所以就需要在政府和市场之间进行权衡.政府和市场的作用跟一个国家所处的发展阶段有关,发展中国家的政府会比发达国家的政府发挥更大的作用.     

改革开放三十年政府支出与居民消费关系的动态演变——基于时变参数模型的考察

本文利用时变参数(TVP)模型考查了改革开放三十年来,政府支出对居民消费影响水平的变化。结果显示,三十年来,我国政府支出对居民消费一直都存在着促进效应,但影响水平却经历了一个倒V型的变化;对城市居民消费的促进效应强于对农村消费的促进效应,且在两者之间的差距还在不断扩大;用于基本建设方面的财政支出对居民消费有一定的促进效应,政府行政与事业经费支出对消费具有挤出效应,而用于改善民生的支出对消费一直都保持着较高的促进效应。     

户籍特征对城市劳动力市场状态的影响——以北京市为例

中国城市劳动力市场存在四种不同户籍特征的劳动力群体——本地非农业户籍、本地农业户籍、外地非农业户籍和外地农业户籍劳动力。根据对北京市2005年1%人口抽样调查数据的分析,发现在上述四种户籍特征的劳动适龄人口中,劳动参与率和就业率逐次上升,而失业率则逐次下降。进一步的经济计量分析发现,户籍特征对劳动适龄人口的市场状态具有显著影响,与本市非农业户籍相比,包括本市农业户籍、外地农业户籍、外地非农业户籍等在内的其他各种户籍特征都不易于使劳动适龄人口处于失业和退出劳动力市场状态,户籍身份的差异确实对劳动适龄人口的劳动力市场状态产生了显著影响。     

关于发展不同要素密集型产业的理论争论及其启示

支持发展劳动密集型产业的经济学家们认为,发展中国家资本匮乏,而劳动力资源丰富,发展劳动密集型产业,符合比较优势原则,有利于解决就业问题;而反对者则指出了比较优势战略理论的三点不足,并认为,从长期看,资本密集型产业可以更多地促进就业。两方的争论,对我们的产业结构调整和技术进步政策有重要的启发。     

Government spending, capital accumulation and the optimal policy rule: The role of public service capital

In this paper, we modify the Djajić [Djajić, S., 1987. “Government Spending and the Optimal Rates of Consumption and Capital Accumulation,” Canadian Journal of Economics 20, 544–554.] model in such a way that government consumption expenditure provides utility to households via the total stock of government services rather than the government consumption flow alone. By using such a framework, we show that the optimality condition for the public service capital stock is the marginal rate of substitution between public service capital and consumption that equals the intertemporal marginal rate of transformation between the two goods. In addition, we show that the relationship between private consumption and public service capital in a household's utility plays an important role in determining the transitional behavior of relevant variables. We also examine the second-best government consumption expenditure policy. By contrast, in the standard flow specification, e.g., Turnovsky and Brock [Turnovsky, S.J. and Brock, W.A., 1980. “Time Consistency and Optimal Government Policies in Perfect Foresight Equilibrium,” Journal of Public Economics 13, 183–212.], Ihori [Ihori, T., 1990. “Government Spending and Private Consumption,” Canadian Journal of Economics 23, 60–69.], and Turnovsky and Fisher [Turnovsky, S.J. and Fisher, W.H., 1995. “The Composition of Government Expenditure and its Consequences for Macroeconomic Performance,” Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 19, 747–786.], the second-best government consumption expenditure is decided on the basis that the marginal utility of consumption is equal to the discounted sum of the marginal utility of the government's flow spending.     

贸易增长、劳动力市场刚性与产业间劳动力转移——基于面板数据门槛效应模型的实证研究

劳动力市场刚性的存在是决定国际贸易能否促进产业间劳动力转移的关键因素之一,然而现有的实证研究却忽视了劳动力市场刚性的决定性作用。本文基于国外文献的度量方法构建劳动力市场刚性和产业间劳动力转移的度量指标,并利用面板数据门槛效应模型研究当劳动力市场刚性存在差异时贸易增长对产业间劳动力转移所产生的不同影响。本文的研究发现,当劳动力市场刚性程度低于门槛值时,贸易增长能加速产业间劳动力转移;而当劳动力市场刚性程度高于门槛值时,贸易增长则会阻碍产业间劳动力转移。由此得出结论,欲使中国的贸易增长起到促进产业间劳动力转移的效果,必须先在劳动力市场领域进行改革,消除劳动力市场刚性。     

Fiscal decentralization and government size: The role of democracy

This paper examines how the level of democracy in a country affects the relationship between fiscal decentralization and government size. We argue that political regimes, proxied by their democracy levels, are important for different decentralization theories to predict the impact of fiscal decentralization on government size. We test this argument using panel data from 76 developed and developing countries during 1972–2013. We find strong and robust evidence that fiscal decentralization is negatively associated with government size and that a higher level of democracy tends to mitigate the negative impact of fiscal decentralization. Therefore, our study contributes to the literature by offering a novel insight on mixed results regarding the relationship between fiscal decentralization and government size in the literature.     

资本市场和现代金融体系--兼谈股权分置改革问题

传统的金融体系具有支付清算和媒介资源配置的功能,而现代金融体系必须增加分散风险与管理财富这两个新功能。中国金融改革的一个战略目标是构建市场主导型金融体系,即建立以充分发达的资本市场为基础的现代金融体系。商业银行的改革和资本市场的发展是相辅相成的,商业银行改革的目标应当是建立在资本市场平台之上;要发挥中国的资本市场的基本功能,需要克服法律制度层面的、文化层面的、政策层面的不利因素的制约,当前最重要的问题是股权分置改革。     

资金供给、技术能力与技术转移绩效——国家重点研发计划多群组结构方程模型分析

国家重点研发计划对全产业链的强调使得研究其技术转移尤为必要。参考资源基础理论和动态能力理论,构建“资金供给—技术积累规模—技术转移能力—技术转移绩效”国家重点研发计划技术转移模型。应用结构方程模型进行检验,使用多群组结构方程模型探讨不同研究项目各因素对技术转移绩效的不同影响。结果发现：(1)国家重点研发计划技术转移绩效总体处于较高水平;(2)技术转移能力是国家重点研发计划技术转移绩效最直接、最有力的影响因素,资金供给是技术转移绩效的重要支撑;(3)技术积累规模难以直接影响技术转移绩效,但在技术转移绩效影响机理中发挥重要传导作用,是技术转移的基础性技术资源;(4)不同项目类型影响效应存在显著差异。研究结论可为政府、项目参与单位、首席科学家和普通参与者有效促进科技项目技术转移提供参考依据。     

The effectiveness of fiscal spending in Croatia,Slovenia and Serbia: the role of trade openness and public debt level

Various structural characteristics of economies, directly or indirectly, affect the transmission from government stimuli to economic activity and determine the size of fiscal multipliers. In this article, we expand the standard Blanchard–Perotti fiscal SVAR model by incorporating the public debt and trade openness variables to assess the influence of these structural determinants on the effectiveness of fiscal spending in three selected former Yugoslav countries – Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia. The results confirmed the main hypotheses, which state that public debt level and trade openness significantly affect the effectiveness of fiscal spending through the means of reduction in size of fiscal effects in all countries analysed. When comparing internationally, this reduction tends to be more evident in countries with a higher degree of average public debt level and trade openness.     

The political and institutional determinants of fiscal adjustments and expansions: Evidence for a large set of countries

Using annual data for 60 countries over 1980–2014, we study the drivers of fiscal adjustments, expansions, and their duration. In contrast to most previous studies, the identification of these fiscal events relies on breaks in their data generating process. Our findings suggest that a few political and institutional variables play a role in determining the occurrence and the duration of fiscal adjustments and expansions. The results also highlight the importance of analyzing the likelihood of fiscal events together with their persistence. Factors that do not affect the occurrence of fiscal adjustments or expansions may influence their persistence once initiated.     

The role of credit constraints and government subsidies in farmland valuations in the US: an options pricing model approach

The Modigliani–Miller (M–M) theorem of financial asset theory concludes that asset values are independent of financing. In other words, debt-solvency (credit constraints) does not affect asset values. Therefore, using the M–M theorem one can argue that credit constraints in the farm sector (where land is the most important asset) do not affect the value of farmland. However, this proof relies on several arbitrage assumptions that are violated in the case of agricultural assets. This paper examines the effect of debt-solvency and government payments on changes in annual farmland values by state in the United States. Using panel cointergration method, results indicate that farmland values are significantly affected by both solvency and government payments. In addition, the results imply that government payments may affect agricultural asset values beyond the direct effect hypothesized in the literature.      

The political economy triangle of government spending,interest-group influence,and income inequality: Evidence and implications from the US states

This paper introduces the political economy triangle (PET) concept of government spending, special interest groups (SIGs) influence, and income inequality, empirically confirming its existence and unveiling its nature while directly addressing key shortcomings of most prior research on the determinants of such inequality. Using static and dynamic panel techniques and data from the US states, it reports several new results: (i) the findings of previous studies regarding the roles of government spending and interest groups, including labor unions, in income distribution are confirmed, however, their estimated inequality effects grossly underestimate those obtained when endogeneity issues are accounted for explicitly; (ii) a dynamic tripartite relationship between the variables of the PET exists; (iii) government spending and SIGs' influence, including union strength, beyond their direct effects on inequality, have a separate positive impact through their interactions; (iv) the effectiveness of government spending in reducing inequality diminishes as the level of SIGs' influence and union strength increase in the short and long run, (v) the aggregate inequality-increasing effect of SIGs is strengthened and the inequality-reducing effects of unions weakened as the spending rises, in the short run and long run. Finally, the broad implications of these findings are discussed.