Fiscal Illusion and Cyclical Government Expenditure: State Government Expenditure in the United States

A well‐established literature argues that fiscal illusion increases the level of government expenditure. This article focuses on the proposition that fiscal illusion also influences the cyclicality of government expenditure. Predictions are formed with reference to government reliance on high income elasticities of indirect tax revenues and on intergovernmental transfers. Predictions are tested with reference to the expenditures of 36 states in the United States from 1980 to 2000. Government expenditures are more likely to be procyclical when citizens systematically underestimate the cost of taxation.     

Fiscal Illusion at the Local Level: An Empirical Test Using Australian Municipal Data

This paper seeks to extend the literature on the empirical analysis of fiscal illusion in two ways. First, it provides a simultaneous test of four specific hypotheses subsumed under fiscal illusion, namely the revenue-complexity, renter illusion, debt illusion and flypaper models. and second, it adds evidence drawn from the Australian institutional milieu to existing empirical work which has an overwhelming North American focus. Using 1991 data from 46 local government authorities in Tasmania, the results suggest significant support for revenue-complexity, debt illusion, and the degree of indirectness of the revenue system.     

Wagner’s Law and Fiscal Illusion: An analysis of state government finances in Brazil

The aim of this article is to analyze state‐level public finances in Brazil. We examine the dynamics of governmental spending in a panel of 26 Brazilian states in search of evidence of Wagner’s Law and Fiscal Illusion Hypothesis. For the period ranging from 2002 to 2015, three methodologies are applied: dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), and pooled mean group (PMG). The main empirical results found indicate that (1) there is strong evidence of Fiscal Illusion caused by public deficit and by central government transfer grants; (2) there are possible Flypaper Effects; (3) there is no evidence in support of Wagner’s Law; (4) there is low publicness degree of local expenditures; (5) due to Fiscal Illusion, less‐developed Brazilian states tend to be stuck in a public expenditure growth mechanism, especially in expenses related to non‐public goods, which tend to benefit private interests and lobby groups.     

中国财政困难是否存在虚幻性--中国政府债务运行状况分析

财政运行状况是制约财政政策空间的重要因素。中国的财政运行状况一直是理论界激烈争论的问题,由于对国债规模的指标体系如何设定本身的争议不大,因此问题主要集中在现有的指标值是否真实地反映了中国财政风险的状况上,大量的预算外资金的存在,使得中国的财政运行极不规范,财政风险估算变得异常模糊,导致过于悲观与过于乐观的观点同时存在,政府取向从而难以确定,同时,大量的预算外资金的存在,挤兑了税基,压缩了财政收入的空间,更大大削弱了现在财政工具的政策效果,而且增加了效果费用和风险预期,从而在更深刻的层次影响到整体经济的运行效率和地区发展平衡,财政体制改革是唯一的出路。     

Exchange Rate Populism

East Asian and Latin American economies present opposite exchange rate electoral cycles: exchange rates tend to be more depreciated before and appreciated after elections among East Asian economies, while the opposite is true in Latin America. We propose an explanation for these empirical findings where the driving force of the opposite exchange rate populism in these two regions is their difference in the relative size of tradable and non‐tradable sectors, coupled with the distributive effect of exchange rates. In a setup where policy‐makers differ in their preference bias toward non‐tradable and tradable sectors, the exchange rate is used a noisy signal of the incumbent's type in an uncertain economic environment. The mechanism behind the cycle is engendered by the incumbent trying to signal he is median voter's type, biasing his policy in favor of the majority of the population before elections.     

"财政自利"与"财政立宪"研究

财政自利是政府作为“经济人”的一种必然现象。财政自利不仅可以发生在政府与社会公众之间,而且也发生在政府之间。唯有对政府财政活动进行立宪约束,才能从根本上制约政府的过分自利而损害社会或下级政府的行为发生。本文主要从依法建立民主理财、民主决策监督机制,实现纳税人对政府的有效约束以及依法建立政府间合理分权制衡机制等两个方面比较全面的分析了政府财政自利的约束和制衡。     

Dutertenomics: Populism,Progress, and Prospects

In 2016, when Rodrigo Duterte was elected Philippine President the economy was growing robustly. Despite the record growth, his election is considered a populist revolt of the middle‐ and upper‐class Filipinos. Yet, his economic policies – from his initial 10‐point agenda to the laws he approved – are liberal. This paper distinguishes and relates Duterte's authoritarian‐populist political style (“Dutertismo”) and his economic agenda (“Dutertenomics”). The distinction follows from his lack of interest in economic affairs, which he delegated to his team of economic managers. This team ably pushes important economic reforms because of the president's style, which so far has earned him wide public approval. After slowing down during the first half of Duterte's term, growth has recently picked up. To keep the momentum and public attention off human rights violations, Duterte needs to accomplish his economic agenda by mid‐2022. Drawing on his powers and popularity, he may yet be able to elicit the full support of Congress.     

论财政法制与财政监管

加强财政法制建设、强化财政监管，是财政改革和发展的客观要求，也是依法治国方略在财政管理中的重要体现。财政法制建设的关键，在于推进依法行政、依法理财。与此同时，市场经济条件下的财政监管也是保证财政体制运转和财政政策实施的重要手段，更是经济监管体系的构成要素之一。在深化财政改革的过程中注重财政法制建设和财政监管，对于推动公共财政框架的建立，将会产生积极、有效的影响。     

积极财政政策与财政风险问题分析

1998年以来,为了应对通货紧缩的经济形势,政府实施积极财政政策,运用财政"反周期调节",刺激国内需求,拉动经济回升.但是,积极财政政策是一把"双刃剑",既可以发挥治理通货紧缩的积极作用,同时也会带来负面影响,如果运用不好,将会产生很大的财政风险.为了确保国家财政安全与稳健运行,有必要对积极财政政策可能产生的风险进行分析和把握,并积极采取措施加以防范和化解,避免潜在的财政风险转化为财政危机.     

我国财政改革和政策实践研究

本文回顾了我国财政改革、财政政策演进历程,揭示了财政政策演进规律,探讨了财政政策宏观调控实践经验。研究发现:首先,与一般市场经济国家不同,我国财政政策从概念认识、实践启动、到运用技术日臻成熟,走出了一条缓解经济危机实现经济稳定、调节经济结构转变经济增长方式、化解民生难题促进社会和谐的独特之路。在这一过程中,财政政策更加注重供给管理。其次,在当前体制转轨背景下,我国财政政策突显出公共性和体制转型双重特征。最后,面对未来,我们需要在财政政策如何更好遵循市场经济规律;财政政策目标如何更聚焦于未来发展战略,如何推进财政改革以确保财政政策调控更具效力等方面总结更多的经验。     

财政分权下的地方财政支出与环境污染研究

我国环境风险逐步凸显与加深,单纯依靠经济手段已不足以解决现阶段的环境污染问题。因此,文章从环境污染的制度根源入手,构建了财政分权、财政支出与环境污染的综合分析框架,刻画财政分权对地方政府财政支出模式的选择,进而对环境污染的影响及逻辑机理。最后,以财政分权、财政支出与环境污染的影响机制为基础,针对导致环境污染的影响渠道的各部分,分别提出改善生态环境质量、治理环境污染的政策建议。     

成功幻觉与生产和人口的过度集中——兼论在城市发展规模上市场机制不一定是有效的

大多数人都觉得大城市的发展和事业成功的机会多,但到大城市工作的人只有少数能获得事业成功,根据成功机会预期进行就业地决策很可能遭受损失,这就是成功幻觉.本文研究发现,成功幻觉和待就业者对交通与住房成本的不敏感性,是生产与人口在大城市过度集中的两种市场机制.生产与人口的过度集中将导致虚假繁荣,即GDP快速上升,但大量社会产出被交通成本和住房成本所消耗,除少数成功者和土地所有者外,大多数人的实际收入和福利受到损失.因此,在城市发展规模上市场机制不一定是有效的.     

Illusion of control and the pursuit of authority

We measure participants’ willingness to pay for transparently useless authority—the right to make a completely uninformed task decision. We further elicit participants’ beliefs about receiving their preferred outcome if they make the decision themselves, and if another participant makes the decision for them. We find that participants pay more to make the decision themselves if they also believe that they can thus increase the probability of getting their preferred outcome. Illusion of control therefore exists in a controlled laboratory environment with monetary incentives and is connected to peoples’ pursuit of authority.     

Fiscal federalism and lobbying

Which government functions should be decentralized (resp. centralized) once lobbying behavior is taken into account? We find that the answer largely depends on how the interests of the regional lobbies are positioned with respect to the function to be decentralized (resp. centralized). When regional lobbies have conflicting interests, then lobbying is less damaging for social welfare under centralization than under decentralization. On the contrary, when regional lobbies have aligned interests, then lobbying is less damaging for social welfare under decentralization, provided that policy spillovers on the non-organized groups are not too strong.     

财政集权过程中的转移支付和财政供养人口规模膨胀

结合财政分权的理论文献,本文描述了中国最近10多年来政府间财政关系的演变,并分析了财政集权过程中转移支付增加对地方财政供养人口的影响。利用中国1994—2003年县级面板数据和工具变量方法,我们从实证角度确立了转移支付增加与财政供养人口规模膨胀的因果关系,并指出在我国目前的政府管理体制下,上级政府面临着无论增加哪种转移支付都可能带来问题的两难处境。要在控制政府冗员增长的同时促进公共服务的有效提供,中国需要建立一个财政上更加分权和行政管理上更有基层参与性的政府管理体制。     

论财政调控与转移支付体系的完善

财政调控作为一种比行政控制更为适当和有效的调节地方政府行为的方式,可以通过中央对地方的转移支付来实现。而我国目前财政转移支付形式繁多、结构不合理、分配方法不规范,为此,迫切需要调整转移支付的模式选择、改进转移支付的结构和分配方法。     

Fiscal Stabilisation and EMU

This paper builds on the papers published by HM Treasury in2003 alongside the UK Government's assessment of the case forEMU entry. The paper considers the potential for fiscal policyto play a greater role in stabilisation policy if the UK wereinside EMU. The paper considers: the scope for strengtheningthe automatic stabilisers and the possible trade-offs; how institutionalchanges could increase the effectiveness of discretionary fiscalpolicy; which fiscal instruments might be most effective; andto what extent stabilisation might be promoted in other ways,such as through enhanced risk sharing by financial markets.(JEL E62, E63)     

财政分权、地区间竞争与中国经济波动

中央与地方政府在中国转型经济中扮演了关键角色,而多级政府结构往往为传统的财政政策文献所忽略。本文将中央与地方两级政府结构引入主流的动态一般均衡模型中,考察财政分权下地方性财政政策对中国宏观经济的动态影响。研究发现:(1)具有财政分权的多级政府基准模型可以解释约64%的总产出波动、47%的投资波动以及62%的消费波动;(2)地方性公共投资对本地经济具有促进作用,同时通过地区间贸易对其他地区产生正的溢出效应;且该溢出效应会随着地区间财政竞争程度的加深而显著加强,因此财政竞争为地方性投资政策提供了重要的传导机制;(3)反事实分析表明,深度财政分权会在短期内加强地方财政支出的波动效应而削弱中央财政支出的波动效应,同时又在长期提高整个经济总产出与社会总福利。本文为定量研究我国经济转型期的财政政策动态效应提供了一个新的视角。     

Fiscal Constitutions

In this paper we examine how taxes, subsidies and the design of constitutional agendas should be regulated in order to allow for an efficient allocation of public goods and a limitation of tax distortions. We show that if public goods are socially desirable, the simple majority rule, combined with taxation constrained to majority winners or a ban on subsidies, can achieve several desirable objectives. Equal treatment regarding taxes and subsidies is undesirable. Super majority rules and equal treatment of all citizens with respect to taxes and subsidies, however, are first-best provided public goods are socially undesirable. Finally, we suggest that constitutions with amendments eliminate excessive taxation and allow treatment rules to universally improve welfare.