Appropriating Vs. Budgeting: A Comparison of Municipal Fiscal Processes

Conceptual and operational differences between the municipal fiscal processes of appropriating and budgeting are examined. Examination is within the framework of Illinois practice, in which some cities prepare an operating budget while others prepare only an appropriation ordinance. The author finds that there are indeed conceptual and operational differences; budgeting is conceptually a more formal and multi-dimensional process than appropriating, and such differences are reflected in the practices of Illinois cities. However, the operational differences are generally of small magnitude. The author recommends that initiation of a budget system be accompanied by programs for infusing fiscal decision making with new concepts and skills.     

Municipal Communications Tax Revenue Reliance and Fiscal Impact of Possible Federal Preemption

This paper presents empirical evidence of the extent to which municipal governments might be affected by federal preemption in the communications sector in light of the substantial variation in municipal governments' reliance on communications tax revenues. The results suggest that the federal preemption would have a negative fiscal impact on the majority of municipal governments, and the extent of the impact would vary substantially. The analysis also indicates that it would be challenging or legally impossible for some city governments to make up for the magnitude of revenue loss due to the states' constraints on municipal revenue‐raising capacity.     

Fiscal Federalism, European Stability Pact, and Municipal Investment Finance: A Microdata Analysis of Spanish Municipalities

In countries where subnational governments control a large partof the public finances, the central government's ability tokeep its commitment to the European Union's Stability and GrowthPact can be a difficult matter. European rules demand that theoverall budget be balanced over the medium term; applying thisrule at subcentral level may unduly reduce capital outlays andlocal budgetary autonomy. This article examines the possibleimpact of budgetary stability legislation on the capital expenditureof Spanish municipalities. The empirical findings suggest thatthe new budgetary stability framework will oblige municipalitiesto (i) limit their investments, (ii) raise the tax burden, or(iii) reduce the funds allocated to other budget items. We believethe Spanish municipal experience is generalizable to other federalcountries in Europe that are facing hard budget constraintsand high earmarked grants.     

The Present and Future Fiscal Problems of the Two New Yorks: What Happened This Time

The state and city of New York have chronic fiscal difficulties, namely, expenditures that tend to exceed revenues by significant amounts. The deficits were moderate in the 1980s but have become large and acute in the 1990s as the state and city economies have been in a prolonged recession. Deficits are expected to continue well into the future. Supply side factors, particularly high wage levels, are the main causes of the state's deficits. For the city, supply side factors, particularly high employment, and demand side factors are main causes. Federal aid reduction is a minor cause. The city's fiscal condition is compared with that of the thirty other largest U.S. cities in a regression analysis which updates Gramlich's analysis of the period immediately before the famous New York City fiscal crisis of 1975.     

How Municipal Property Tax Responded to State Aid Cuts: The Case of Massachusetts Municipalities in the Post‐2001 Fiscal Crisis

This empirical study examines municipal property tax responses to state aid cuts during the post‐2001 fiscal crisis. Using panel econometric techniques on annual changes in property tax levy by 351 incorporated Massachusetts municipalities in the period of 2002–2006, the results suggest that municipal governments offset about 9 cents of each dollar of net state aid cut through the increase of their property tax rates. It contributes to public finance literature on the extent to which local property tax can be used to stabilize municipal revenues when the intergovernmental revenue shrinks.     

北京市政府购买公共服务的实践探索与问题研究

随着我国社会公共需求全面增长以及需求日益多样化,如何创新公共服务供给模式、提高公共服务质量是当下我国地方政府需要应对的巨大挑战。相比发达国家我国公共服务购买开始的较晚且发展缓慢,取得了一些实践成果,同时也出现了一系列突出问题。以北京市政府购买公共服务的实践探索为例,通过探析其在发展中存在的问题并提出完善对策,能够为地方政府推进公共服务购买提供经验借鉴,有助于推动我国社会组织以及公共服务购买市场的健康成长。     

Tax and Expenditure Limitations and the Fiscal Response of Local Government: Asymmetric Intra-Local Fiscal Effects

This article empirically investigates the effects of introducing statewide measures to limit the ability of local jurisdictions to raise revenue or make expenditures. It does so in intervals of five years over a 25-year period, using fiscal observations for 31,804 units of local government in 787 metropolitan counties across the contiguous United States. Specifically explored is the effect of tax and expenditure limitations on the variation in revenues and expenditures between general purpose governments and school districts within county areas. Rather than imposing a uniform constraint across jurisdictions, tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) are associated with increased variation across both general purpose and school district revenues and expenditures and, by implication, increased service differentials. Effects are found to be asymmetric, with increased variation greatest within counties comprising the urban core and those with relatively more disadvantaged populations. The implications are that TELs are most constraining on the ability of governments serving economically less prosperous and at risk populations to meet public service needs. Such differential effects are of more than questionable merit and are the result of the application of blunt instruments to what is often an undemonstrated need. The outcome impairs both the efficiency and responsiveness of the local public sector.     

Categorical Municipal Expenditures with a Focus on the Flypaper Effect

Using data for Wisconsin cities and villages the effects of grants in aid from state government on 10 categories of municipal expenditures are examined. We build on the traditional grants in aid public finance literature by looking for evidence of the flypaper effect. By focusing on the Wisconsin state shared revenues program, a pure grant of considerable size for many Wisconsin municipalities, we offer a clean test of the flypaper effect. We find a positive flypaper effect on 8 of the 10 categorical expenditures. We also find the impact of unconditional grants on categorical expenditures is stronger on nonessential “luxury” goods (e.g., parks and recreation, culture, and educational services) than on essential “normal” municipal goods (e.g., police and fire protection).     

A Decade of Deficits and Debt: Japanese Fiscal Policy and the Rise and Fall of the Fiscal Structural Reform Act of 1997

Japanese budgetary and fiscal policy have experienced dramatic changes during the last several years, marked by the rise and fall of the Fiscal Structural Reform Act of 1997. This act altered the budgetary process with the goal of reducing Japan's rapidly growing deficit and debt. Yet the onset of recession in 1998 led Japan to engage again in large-scale deficit spending to stimulate the economy, and in the process discard its budget reforms.     

Seizing the Opportunities of Fiscal Retrenchment

As both a trust establishment and a public institution, the Smithsonian Institution is a recipient of both public and private sector funding. This article examines the financial crisis within the Institution that resulted from increasing costs, a weakening economy, and eroding federal support. It further shows how the Institution's senior management recognized the permanence of their economic situation, accepted the structural nature of their fiscal plight, and initiated the downsizing and restructuring of a public institution that, until recently, experienced nothing but growth.     

The Politics of Fiscal Austerity: Implications for the United States

As austerity becomes the new normal for advanced nations, questions are raised about whether nations can make the hard choices necessary to bring about a sustainable fiscal future. The political defeat experienced by so many European governments undertaking fiscal consolidations points to the vulnerabilities that leaders will face. This article shows that how some Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations have survived the daunting politics of fiscal consolidation by timing actions for periods of economic recovery and political honeymoons following elections and by pursuing deficit reduction strategies that emphasize broad sweeping changes yielding high potential for dramatic economic gains over the longer term. Unlike many European nations today, the seemingly endless appetite for US treasuries by worldwide markets give the United States the luxury of choosing to begin deficit reduction only when the economy strengthens. However, the absence of market pressure also reduces the sense of urgency, consigning national leaders to create internal crises such as the 2012 “fiscal cliff” to force their own hand. While the polarized politics characterizing our party system does not bode well for concerted fiscal action, divided government carries the potential for spreading political risks and promoting more sustainable fiscal outcomes, as it has in our recent history and in other nations as well.     

着力落实以民生为导向的财政政策

近年来我国实施以民生为导向的财政政策,民生状况有了很大改善.但其在实施过程中还存在着许多问题,主要表现为:用于民生领域的财政支出仍显不足,财政支出管理和控制机制尚未健全,民生支出难以实现持续高增长等.因此,要着力落实以民生为导向的财政政策,不断优化财政支出结构,完善财政转移支付制度,规范权力运作机制,支持社会保障体系建设,完善收入分配政策,建立充分反映民意的利益表达机制和以民生为导向的政府绩效评估机制,健全各级政府财力与事权相匹配的财政体制.     

The Effects of Political and Fiscal Incentives on Local Government Behavior: An Analysis of Fiscal Slack in China

This study examines the determinants of fiscal slack from the perspective of Chinese local government officials. Given China's rapid economic growth over the past 30-plus years, Chinese local governments reportedly hold huge slack resources that attract public scrutiny. In an effort to improve their fiscal performance, some localities recently established budget stabilization funds, following a top-down initiative. However, it remains unclear to what extent fiscal slack has accumulated and which factors affect slack resource levels of Chinese local governments. By employing a panel dataset (249 prefecture-level cities, 1999–2009), this study finds that political and fiscal factors exert significant influence over local officials’ decisions about slack resource levels. The findings of the study bear implications for establishing fiscal rules and improving the performance of sub-national governments in China and other countries.     

Fiscal Centralization in the American States: Findings From Another Perspective

Studies of the determinants of fiscal centralization have produced conflicting results. The difficulty may lie in reliance on cross-section analyses and their presumptions of the sources and nature of change. Studies of the current relative positions of political units ignore historical factors which may have "pushed" units away from some sort of normal position. An historical analysis of the American states demonstrates these points.     

从语用失误角度看负迁移对跨文化交际的影响

在跨文化交际过程中,文化间的差异不可避免地会带来文化干扰,对此无论是在语言交际还是非语言交际中都需加以注意。语用学是研究语言符号与使用者之间关系的学科,其在跨文化交际研究中也起着非常重要的作用。从跨文化交际者的角度来讲,与交际失败紧密相关的是交际的行为方式和交际参与者对这些行为方式产生的理解之间的联系。而其中,负迁移是足以引起语用失败的最直接原因,包括语言层上的负迁移和文化规约层上的负迁移。在跨文化交际中,我们应该从多角度来分析文化和比较文化,破除所有的陈规以避免语用失误,使交流过程顺利进行。