社会福利指数、政府支出规模及其结构优化

政府支出规模及其结构优化应以提高社会福利水平而不是以经济增长为其最终目标。构建了政府支出与消费、社会福利之间的理论分析模型,利用优化控制理论与方法,从理论上论证了在最大社会福利的基础上存在最优政府支出规模与支出结构安排,设计了衡量社会福利水平的新指标,并以此指标为基础,利用中国1982年—2005年的年度数据,对政府支出规模及其结构优化进行计量分析。其基本结论是:我国政府支出规模及其各种单项支出与社会福利指数之间存在较强的相关性,为满足我国不断增加的公共服务需求,应增加政府支出规模,优化政府支出的内部结构体系,即适度提高中央政府支出在政府总支出中所占的比重,减少投资性支出和行政管理支出,增加以教育、公共卫生、公共安全、社会保障为主体的公共服务性支出,以促进我国社会福利水平的提高。     

理解公共领域：从“经济人”到“公共人”

公共选择理论用古典经济学的"经济人"假设来分析市场经济条件下"政府失灵"的原因并提出对策,认为政治家和行政人员也是追求个人利益最大化的"经济人",也是按照成本一收益原则来行事的,所以,公共领域也应该按照私人领域的运行方式来运行.但是,用"经济人"假设来分析公共领域只会颠覆公共领域存在的根本原则,只会导致政府与公众信任关系的急剧恶化.为了维系和重建政府与公众的信任关系,不应该根据"经济人"假设来重建公共领域、而应当大力倡导服务型政府的建立.     

我国基尼系数、公共支出与政府的社会职能

基尼系数的增长深刻反映出我国社会公平性的严重失衡与政府社会职能的缺失.政府用于民生方面的公共支出的不足进一步折射出这一点.为此,中国政府应该通过加大公共支出中关于人民群众生存权利、发展权利方面的部分来强化社会服务职能.政府在保证自身承担责任的基础上,也需要不断为社会其他主体在这一过程发挥作用提供制度保证与支持,从而为社会效率与公平达成新的均衡创造积极条件.     

当前农村公共产品供给问题分析与对策建议

当前农村公共产品供给存在供给总量不足、结构失衡、效率低下三大问题,其原因在于城乡二元供给机制和各级政府财权事权不统一、供给主体与供给方式单一等。因此,应建立城乡一体的公共产品供给体制,推进城乡公共服务均等化;明确农村公共产品供给的优先顺序;厘清各级政府公共产品供给职责,建立财权事权一致的投入分摊机制;鼓励与引导企业、非营利组织和私人参与,形成多元化供给格局;实行大村庄制,促进农村公共产品供给。     

政府绩效评估的路径选择——基于层次的视角——对政府绩效评估中的困境思考及其根源分析

政府绩效是公共管理的核心问题,也是衡量公共管理成败的标准.通过对近年来政府绩效评估的内容、标准、方法和主体上出现的困境进行分析,可以看出政府绩效评估困境产生的根源在于政府自身身份的两重性.因而,将政府绩效分层而论是明晰政府绩效评估的路径选择.     

我国公共教育支出的"4E"分析

公共教育支出是财政支出的重要组成部分,是关系到我国教育事业健康发展的重要环节,是影响到我国国民素质提高和经济高速发展的关键因素.因此,本文利用4E(经济、效率、公平与效益)指标体系对公共教育支出的绩效进行分析,指出了我国公共教育支出使用上存在的主要问题.     

“三渔问题”与公共政策调整思路——辽东湾海蜇捕捞案例分析

辽东湾海蜇捕捞案例反映出典型的以渔业资源枯竭,渔民生活困难,渔村经济薄弱为特征的"三渔问题".采用社会经济学原理和博弈论方法分析"资源公有 私人抢捕"(对应"公地悲剧 囚徒困境")的典型经济与社会问题,特别是海蜇捕捞冲突的机理与协调问题,探讨如何建立有效的社会协调机制,实现规范的公共管理.辽东湾海蜇捕捞违捕现象连年发生,已经形成了一种"动态稳定状态",说明海蜇捕捞这一公共管理事物出现了一定程度的市场失灵和一定程度的政府失灵现象.其中,产权问题是个核心问题.产权所有和使用可有四种基本组合:(1)资源公有 公共捕捞;(2)资源私有 私人捕捞;(3)资源公有 私人捕捞;(4)资源私有 公共捕捞.理论和现实都证明,第一种组合效率低下;第二种组合在不少国家为常态;第三种组合最容易出现"公地悲剧",这也是辽东湾的现实.但研究发现,海蜇资源具有较强的"竞争性"和"排他性",悲剧是可以避免的;第四种组合似乎没有可行性,但只要解决了"排他性"问题,很可能也是一种选择.     

我国公共管理社会化的现状分析

政府与社会的关系是衡量一个社会发展程度和社会自我管理能力的重要指标，也是影响政府管理功能的重要因素。拟从有利因素和制约因素两个方面来分析我国公共管理社会化的现状，从而更好地认识和思考我国公共管理社会化问题。     

关于推进公共服务市场化和社会化改革的若干思考

在20世纪大部分时间里,世界各国政府在公共服务的提供过程中,都不同程度地存在着公共服务支出过大、公共服务效率不高等问题,公共需求不断增长与政府公共服务供给能力之间的矛盾日益突出。政府在推进公共服务市场化和社会化改革过程中,应建立公共产品和服务供给的社会参与机制,提高服务效率和质量。     

参与式预算的公共投资效率意义——以浙江温岭市泽国镇为例

主要的论题是政府在公共预算制定过程中,通过怎样的机制实现公共投资效率的最大化.采用了规范研究与实证案例研究相结合的研究方法.研究表明,公共投资效率的涵义是公共投入为相关民众带来福利的最大改进,其规范性制度意义是相关民众就公共预算方案达成一致同意.研究指出,实现公共投资效率的核心问题是居民偏好的有效表达与偏好的集结;基于偏好表达与偏好集结的不可能性困境,在居民偏好给定的情况下,通过居民参与公共预算方案的讨论与协商,居民的偏好能够有效表达,并在协商过程中理性地、非强制地改变自己的偏好,进而就公共决策达成一致同意.浙江省温岭市泽国镇实施的参与式公共预算模式,有效解决了公共投资决策中的偏好表达与偏好集结的问题,促进了公共投资效率的实现,在基层公共预算制度改革中具有普遍意义.居民在公共预算制定过程中的协商参与,不仅使得政府公共决策具有了政治上的合法性,公共决策满足了民众需求,更重要的是促进了公共投资效率的实现.     

A theory of global public goods and their provisions

This paper develops a general theory of a global public good and its optimal provision. In a national public good problem that researchers have long been acquainted with, government taxation and public expenditure are an inevitable tool for an optimal provision. This paper shows that an efficient provision of a truly global public good through public taxation and expenditure becomes unattainable because of nationally disparate incentives, especially given large uncertainties about the future. This paper describes two alternative approaches. One is a technological solution, which is a high promise but has unresolved issues of uncertainties with regard to developments of necessary technologies. The other is an adaptation framework. This paper shows that the provision of a truly global public good becomes manageable through a framework of adaptation strategies as it overcomes both divergent national interests and uncertainties with regard to needed technologies. Adaptation strategies would unfold triggered by changes in private incentives over a long‐term time horizon in a private–public partnership. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of state R&D tax credits in stimulating private R&D expenditure: A cross‐state empirical analysis

This is a cross‐state empirical study which examines the effects of state research and development (R&D) tax credits on private R&D expenditure in the states. Other explanatory variables include federal R&D subsidies, public services in higher education and R&D‐targeted programs as well as other control variables. The statistical result shows that the establishment of state R&D credit programs is effective in stimulating more industrial R&D expenditure. In addition, state services in higher education and R&D‐targeted programs also matter in private decision of R&D investment. This policy assessment sends a positive message to state policymakers because it shows the great potential in using R&D policy instruments to promote innovation‐based economic development. © 2005 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management     

Interrelationships among public spending preferences: A micro analysis

This paper examines a system of qualitative demand equations for public spending on education, welfare, housing, health, highways, and defense. The demand for public spending for a particular category is hypothesized to be a function of income, tax-price, private benefit measures, and tastes as well as demands for other public expenditure categories. Based on individual survey data, the conditional maximum likelihood estimates of the logit equations are obtained. The results indicate the significant role of tastes, private benefit variables, and tax-prices. In addition, positive rather than negative, demand interrelationships are found to exist. These findings question the validity of the median voter hypothesis as a model for public budget allocation.     

Can private governance boost public policy? Insights from public–private governance interactions in the fisheries and electricity sectors

Based on the inductive analysis of two parallel cases of private environmental governance – private, market-driven fisheries governance and private, market-driven governance for electricity decarbonization – this paper uncovers a trigger for positive public policy spillovers from private environmental governance. It identifies circumstances that prompt groups of business actors working as private regulators to also take on a role as public policy advocates and supporters, revealing a potential for private governance initiatives that are targeted at a particular environmental problem to serve as a bolster for the public regulatory governance of that problem as well. Both private governance cases at the basis of this analysis feature groups of business actors seeking to meet voluntary sustainability goals through the tools of private governance (specifically, through flexing buyer power and private authority in an effort to reform environmentally problematic practices among particular groups of suppliers). In both cases, the business's inability to attain private sustainability goals though private governance means alone has given rise to business demand for facilitative public environmental policy and regulation. The analysis presented in this paper thus points to the occurrence of a particular and intriguing pattern of complementarity between private authority and public policy – one where public policy is called on to fill gaps left by private environmental governance and authority. And it identifies key conditions for such private-governance-driven recentering of public policy to occur, namely the presence of private supply chain greening goals and commitments that are economically, reputationally, and/or competitively critical for businesses to attain, combined with shortfalls in the capacity of businesses' private authority to bring about such attainment. The two case analysis further suggests the importance of ENGOs in identifying and activating some of the opportunities for leveraging shortfalls in private environmental governance to the advantage of public environmental policy and regulation.     

Political-economic aspects of public employment

Abstract. An examination of public employment and expenditure data for 17 OECD countries for the period 1963–1983 reveals decelerating growth in public employment after 1970, whereas expenditure growth rates have been accelerating. Two contrary tendencies in public sector employment since the early 1970s are apparent: a general decline in goods and market services, and a significant increase in communal and social services. Comparative empirical analysis, using a pooled cross section-time series technique, confirms the important contribution of increasing wealth to public employment growth. Similarly, a strong societal position for organised labour and increasing unemployment rates contribute to public employment growth, thereby suggesting the presence of a discretionary stabilization policy. Contrary to expectations, however, increased trade dependence exerts a negative impact. With regard to the relationship between expenditure and employment, a general increase in the employment creation efficiency of spending can be discerned. Empirical estimates again suggest that the importance of labour in political-economic decision-making has intensified the employment creation effect of public spending.     

Gorillas in the closet? Public and private actors in the enforcement of transnational private regulation

This paper examines to what extent the background presence of state regulatory capacity – at times referred to as the “regulatory gorilla in the closet” – is a necessary precondition for the effective enforcement of transnational private regulation. By drawing on regulatory regimes in the areas of advertising and food safety, it identifies conditions under which (the potential of) public regulatory intervention can bolster the capacity of private actors to enforce transnational private regulation. These involve the overlap between norms, objectives, and interests of public and private regulation; the institutional design of regulatory enforcement; compliance with due process standards; and information management and data sharing. The paper argues that while public intervention remains important for the effective enforcement of transnational private regulation, governmental actors – both national and international – should create the necessary preconditions to strengthen private regulatory enforcement, as it can also enhance their own regulatory capacity, in particular, in transnational contexts.     

Does legislative turnover adversely affect state expenditure policy? Evidence from Indian state elections

The effect of legislative turnover on the size and composition of government expenditures in Indian states over the 1980?C2000 period is examined. The paper finds that excessive turnover in Indian state elections results in inefficient government expenditure policy. First, the higher the turnover, the larger the government size. Second, excessive turnover affects the allocative efficiency of government expenditures by skewing the composition of government spending toward pure consumption and away from more productive investment expenditures. Third, the effect of turnover on fiscal policy is not linear; public consumption expenditure is convex in turnover, while public investment expenditure is concave in turnover.     

Hold your nose and vote: corruption and public decisions in a representative democracy

This paper analyzes how corruption alters policy decisions in democracy, and examines whether this distortion can result in a long-term persistence of corruption even when the voters are well informed and rational. By applying a citizen-candidate model of representative democracy, the paper analyzes how corruption distorts the allocation of resources between public and private consumption, altering the policy preferences of elected and nonelected citizens in opposite directions. The outcome is a reduction in real public expenditure and, if the median voter??s demand for public goods is sufficiently elastic, a reduction in taxes. In this case, some citizens benefit indirectly from corruption. The paper also presents some empirical evidence that, in democratic countries, corruption results in lower tax revenue, and proceeds to show that, when this occurs, citizens anticipating a shift in preferences in favor of public expenditure may support institutions that favor corruption. This result complements the findings of other studies that have attributed the persistence of corruption in democracy to some failure on the part of the voters or the electoral system. It also bears implications for developing effective anticorruption strategies and for redefining the role that can be played by the international community.     

Social Heterogeneity and Optimal Mix Between Public and Private Provision of Public Goods

With a framework of incomplete contract, this paper shows that for provision of public goods such as medicare and education, pure privatization may not promote competition. On the contrary, the co-existence of public and private provision may enhance de facto competition. Two competitive effects are identified. When consumers are heterogeneous, the co-existence of public and private ownership gives consumers freedom to choose from different ownership, improving allocation efficiency (Tiebout effect). While consumers are homogeneous, the co-existence can promote yardstick competition, squeezing out information rents from both ownerships, improving production efficiency (benchmarking effect). In either case, the co-existence dominates unique ownership. The paper ends up with some implications for China.s medicare and education reforms. Yongqin Wang is an assistant professor at China Center for Economic Studies, Fudan University and Haibo Xu is a M.A. student in economics at the same center. We thank Te Bao, Zhao Chen, Sujian Guo, Ming Lu, Yew-Kwang Ng and Teague Savitch, and anonymous reviewers for valuable comments.