地方财政自主性与公共服务配置效率:基于法定支出约束视角

财政分权是推动各级政府良性运转,保障社会基本公共服务的重要制度基础,关于分权的效率影响迄今尚未形成广泛共识。本文立足于以法定支出标准为主的地方财政事权约束视角,通过建构包含非自由支配支出项目的央地财政关系理论框架,重新审视了基于特定政治激励机制的地方财政自主性与公共服务配置效率间的动态联系。研究发现,在考虑存在法定支出标准的制度情境下,地方财政自主性对公共服务供给效率具有显著的负向效应,法定支出标准的设定有效缩小了公共资源配置相较于最优状态的偏离度。以上效应在生产性项目,经济水平较高以及地方官员任期更短的地区更为明显。机制分析表明,地方政府在拥有一定的财政自主性条件下,通过压缩基本公共服务支出份额和选择生产性偏向的支出结构降低了公共服务配置效率。进一步研究发现,2014年《预算法》修订取消法定支出标准有利于优化地方公共服务资源配置,从而导致基准效应在更长事件窗口期内呈现先降后升的“U”型非线性特征。本文丰富了现阶段关于政府间财政分权的理论研究,对新时期进一步明确政府间支出责任划分,推动公共民生事业发展等方面具有一定政策启示。     

当前分税制财政管理体制改革的成效、问题及对策

作为中央与地方财政关系的载体,财政管理体制是关于各级政府之间财政级次、财政收支权限划分及政府间财力配置的根本性制度规范。1994年分税制改革时,我国以"中央和地方政府事权和财权对称"为指导,划分中央和地方财政收入,建立过渡时期政府转移支付制度,初     

论户籍制度、公共服务均等化与财政体制改革

户籍制度改革与财政体制改革的根本目标是一致的,即实现公共服务均等化。地方政府作为提供公共服务和推动户籍制度改革的主体,其行为受到现行财政体制的根本约束。地方政府主动选择户籍制度进行歧视性的公共服务提供服从于自身的财政利益需要。支出责任划分、事权要素搭配以及财政收入构成共同影响着地方政府对待户籍制度改革的态度,促成了户籍制度改革的地方化与地方财政收支的人口偏向。要剥离户籍与公共服务提供之间的联系,实现公共服务均等化,需从财政体制的源头着手。     

高等教育领域中央与地方财政事权和支出责任划分问题研究

高等教育产生社会效用的外溢性特点,是科学划分高等教育领域政府间财政事权与支出责任的基本依据.我国相关改革经历了"集权—下划—适度集中"的过程,2019年教育领域中央与地方财政事权和支出责任划分改革方案开启了高等教育政府间财政关系调整完善的新进程.当前划分框架存在央地间、省际间高等教育财政保障水平差异,高等院校科研职能未充分纳入统筹范围,部分权责划分还不够明确等问题.为此,下一步应强化中央政府的财政事权和支出责任,加大对地方高等院校科研方面的政策导向性投入,推动财政转移支付规范化、明晰化,注重发挥省级政府对高等教育的统筹作用,并以制度化为先导逐步推进法制化.     

河北省省以下政府间财政支出责任划分研究与实践

政府间财政支出责任划分,核心要解决各层级政府之间合理分担国家机构向社会公众提供公共物品和公共服务的总成本问题。财政支出责任划分是政府间财政关系的基础,是财政体制的基础环节。只有在事权划分明确、支出责任清晰条件下,才能科学地配置财源、合理地划分收入。近年来,落实科学发展观要求,为破除体制性滞障,促进全省经济社会又好又快发展,河北省积极开展了省以下政府间财政支出责任划分研究工作,并将研究成果付诸实践,进行了省以下政府间财政支出责任划分试点。     

德国的财政转移支付制度及对我国的启示

政府间的财政转移支付,即:一个国家的各级政府之间在既定的事权、支出范围和收入划分框架下财政资金相互转移,包括上级财政对下级财政的拨款,下级财政对上级政府的上解,共享税的分配以及不同地区间的财政资金转移.政府间财政转移支付制度是解决中央与地方财政纵向不平衡和地区间财政横向不平衡的矛盾、规范中央与地方财政关系的有效途径.     

我国县乡财政解困的制度构建:经验借鉴与现实选择

造成我国县乡财政困难的原因很多.就制度方面而言,主要表现在我国政府财政层次过多,地方政府间事权与财政支出责任划分不明确,税收体系不健全以及转移支付制度的不完善.因此,可借鉴美国经验做到:减少政府财政级次,规范各级政府财力分配;以法律的形式明确界定各级政府事权与财政支出范围;完善税权划分和协调机制,确保基层财政收入;完善以公共服务均等化为目的的转移支付制度.     

政府间核心公共服务职责划分的理论与实践——OECD国家的经验和借鉴意义

合理划分各级政府的公共服务职责是建立现代公共服务体系的基本前提。本文通过对政府间核心公共服务职责划分相关理论的梳理和OECD国家具体实践的考察,归纳出两点可资借鉴的主要经验:一是权衡中央和地方各自的优势,在强调中央政府负有主要支出责任,以保障基本社会公平的同时,逐渐增加地方政府的管理权限和责任,发挥其信息优势。二是在"收入集权、支出分权"的基本财政体制下,通过完善的转移支付制度使各级政府的公共服务职责与财力相匹配,发挥转移支付的控制机能。     

公共财政体制下对政府转移支付制度的思考

一、现行财政转移支付制度中存在的问题(一)政府间财权与事权划分不对称,导致政府职能交叉和滞后财权是中央与地方关系中最重要和最敏感的中枢神经。财权在各级政府间的划分,是分级财政的核心内容。财     

事权财权匹配的四重问题

正日前,中央出台了《深化财税体制改革总体方案》,核心内容之一就是要调整中央和地方政府间的财政关系。财政现代化的主要标志是从满足统治阶层需要的贡赋财政、领地财政、税收财政转变为提供公共服务的公共财政或称现代财政。可以说,现代财政是以民主、法治原则和纳税人的负担能力来确定政府责任即事权,而且,这样的事权要以公共利益的需要和解决市场力量无法解决的问题为限,事权是财政分配的基础,要在公正、合理地界定和划分各级政府事权的前提下,优化财权配置,使各级政府的财权与事权相匹配。     

地方政府公共服务职能研究

在我国现阶段,由于长期以来重经济轻服务的倾向,导致公共服务投入不足,供需矛盾突出,而地方政府贴近公众日常生活,相比中央政府更容易了解民众的公共需求,因此,针对目前地方政府公共服务职能存在的问题,中央与各级地方政府要上下联动,采取措施转变地方政府职能,加强地方政府的公共服务职能。     

关于构筑我国公共财政支出框架的思考

适应市场经济改革，构筑公共财政支出框架是我国下一步财政支出改革的目标和方向。借鉴西方公共财政理论政策的同时，应结合我国的现实国情通盘考虑。构筑新财政支出框架时，既要满足公共财政的一般性要求，又要结合我国财政的特殊性要求，两者并重，不可偏废。在合理界定财政支出职能范围的基础上，通过提高支出总量、优化支出结构、加强支出管理、构筑适合我国国情的公共支出框架。     

DEVOLVED BUDGETARY MANAGEMENT IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: LESSONS FROM A SHIRE COUNTY

The changing environment of public sector organisations has, in recent years, focused attention on the management processes employed to achieve effective service delivery as economically and efficiently as possible. One approach has been the importation into the public sector ofa number ofprivate sector management strategies and practices, most notably those based on devolved bud- getary management principles. This paper analyses the approach of a large local authority to the implementation of devolved budgetary management, based, in large part, on interviews with line managers to whom budgets were devolved. It examines the process of devolution within the authority and the reactions of line managers to that process. It concludes that while the implementation of truly devolved budgetary management is an important, and perhaps essential, managerial technique in the 'new' local government environment, it should not be implemented in ways which ignore the differ- ences between public and private sector organisations and between different local authority departments.     

提高地方财政收入质量的若干思考

为促进地方财政收入质量的进一步提高,本文在阐明财政收入质量基本概念的基础上,通过分析中央财政对地方财政收入能力的考评特点,提出了地方应紧密结合自身经济财政发展实际,从国家治理的高度认识财政收入质量,准确把握地方财政收入质量管理的着力点,建立健全地方财政收入有效增长机制等建议.     

Amalgamation,free-rider behavior,and regulation

Amalgamation incentivizes municipalities to increase public debt because it allows them to subrogate their repayment and interest burden on the entire municipality after amalgamation. Smaller municipalities, in particular, tend to accumulate public debt in order to free-ride. Previous studies have shown this kind of opportunistic behavior in countries where municipalities can issue bonds freely in the market. However, in Japan, municipalities cannot issue bonds freely by regulation. When such regulation controls debt accumulation by the merging municipality, the free-rider effect should be weak. This study examines the relationship between the regulation of local government borrowing and free-rider behavior of Japanese municipalities. The difference-in-difference regression results confirm the existence of a free-rider effect in this regard. Moreover, the debt expenditure ratio, the index of the regulation of local public bond issues, has the same effect that prevents local public debt from increasing for both merging and never-merged municipalities. This fact shows that a merging municipality with a free-rider incentive cannot increase local public debt to excess by using the regulation. Therefore, the average free-rider effect per capita is approximately 7 % of the average local public debt per capita for the end of the pre-treatment period. This result is considerably lower than the effects of the Swedish cases.     

中国地方政府债务权责划分:实践探索与改革建议

地方政府债务权责划分是一国分级财政体制的重要内容。实现中国地方政府债务的合法化已经成为解决当前地方政府债务问题的前提条件。地方政府债务的合法化不仅是债务融资权的界定问题,更是管理责任的归属问题。近年来中国某些地方已经开始自发地探索地方层面上的政府债务权责划分的方法。国家应尽快制定统一的法规,赋予地方政府合法举债权,但应严格控制债务规模、界定使用范围。应在财政部和省市县财政部门设立债务管理机构,明确地方政府的债务偿还及风险管理责任,加大债务监督力度。     

论公共卫生最优支出策略

公共卫生支出具有极强的正外部性.如果由地方政府或私人选择公共卫生支出的水平,那么他们的最优选择是较低的公共卫生支出和较高的个人消费(内含个人医疗支出),整个社会的福利将会处于较低的水平状态.本文在一个动态的框架下分析了发生这种现象的经济学原因,说明中央政府而非地方政府或私人应该对公共卫生的建设承担更大的责任,应由中央政府负责全国公共卫生体系的建设.     

An examination of state and local government pension underfunding – Implications and guidance for governance and regulation

State and local government pension underfunding has become a major focus of public policy debate due in large part to recent Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) actions that have brought national attention to the issue. The extent of these plans underfunding has been debated, along with the necessity for state government intervention and the level of regulatory actions that should be enacted by state legislatures. State and local public pension plans do not fall under the enumerated powers of the federal government in the Constitution and are therefore left to each individual state to regulate. The amount of plan underfunding and enacted public policy by state varies greatly. Additionally, in contrast to numerous state balanced-budget laws, legal directives for fully funding public pensions are virtually non-existent. This paper analyzes the state and local public pension crisis, examines current and long-term risk, studies public employee fiscal conditions, considers the societal impacts of these plans, considers the strengths and weakness of pension plan types, recommends public policy and regulation, and offers strategies for managers, board members, and public officials to adopt.     

A Second-Best Theory of Local Government Policy

This paper provides a model where a large number of small jurisdictions compete for mobile firms and households by supplying local public goods and factors. Jurisdictions only have an incomplete set of tax instruments at their disposal to achieve an efficient allocation. We derive second-best behavioral rules for local governments and extend optimal taxation results to the local level. Local governments distort locational decisions of mobile firms and households by taxing them above marginal congestion costs so as to balance relative locational distortions between taxes. The analysis also reveals that there is a systematic difference between the provision of local public goods and factors. While local public goods are provided according to the Samuelson rule in most situations considered, local public factors are undersupplied relative to this rule.     

New development: What is the meaning of philosophy for local government officers?

This article reflects on how the philosophical foundations of public administration and the practice of local government can be linked together. Informed by Ongaro, E. (2017. Philosophy and public administration: An introduction. Edward Elgar), the relationship between philosophy and public administration is considered, followed by a discussion of what this means for local government. Virtue ethics and utilitarianism are applied to two current examples of local government practice. The article ends by detailing key points for the future relationship between philosophy and local government.