Tax Reforms under the Principle of Transparency,Efficiency and Equity

正CHINA has been comprehensively deepening reforms since the convening last November of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee.Tax reforms affect the interests of each citizen and every enterprise,and are inextricable from economic development and social stability.As one of the world’s main emerging economies,China operates a fiscal system under the principle of high fiscal revenues and high fiscal expenditure,thus ensuring     

Federal dynamics in times of economic and financial crisis

The global economic and financial crisis is a challenge for all governments, but particularly for federal states because divided and/or shared territorial powers make federations susceptible to coordination problems in fiscal policy making. This article explores the effects of the ongoing crisis on federal relations. Three kinds of problems that may become the cause of federal tensions and conflicts are evoked: opportunism of subgovernments, centralisation and erosion of solidarity among members of the federation. Our analysis of fiscal policies and federal conflicts of 11 federations between 2007 and the present reveals three kinds of coordination problems: shirking in the use of federal government grants, rent‐seeking in equalisation payments, and over‐borrowing and over‐spending. Our results show that shirking remained limited to few cases and occurred only in the first part of the crisis. However, rent‐seeking and over‐borrowing and over‐spending led to a reduction of solidarity among subgovernments and to increased regulation of the fiscal discretion of the members of the federation. Subsequently, tensions in federal relations increased – although only in one case did this challenged the federal order.     

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Inflows on Economic Growth in Barbados: An Engle-Granger Approach

The purpose of this article is to look at the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows on economic growth in Barbados in the long and short run from 1979 to 2008 with the use of the Engle-Granger two-step procedure. The study shows that in the long run, a 1 percent increase in FDI inflows will expand economic growth by 0.10 percent while in the short run, the relationship between FDI and economic growth will be positive but almost flat. These results imply that any policy by Government aimed at boosting economic growth using FDI inflows will have to be considered for the long run since Government could not rely on FDI inflows in the short run.     

Fiscal Capacity Equalisation in Tanzania

Fiscal equalisation aims at enabling decentralised governments to supply similar services at similar tax rates. In order to equalise fiscal disparities, differences in both fiscal capacities and in fiscal needs have to be measured. This paper focuses on the measurement of fiscal capacity in a developing country. The current intergovernmental transfer system in Tanzania does not take differences in fiscal capacity into account. As a result, local governments in rich areas are able to generate considerably more revenue per capita than those in poor areas. Public services in poor areas are hard to finance. We propose a way of measuring fiscal capacities of local governments in Tanzania using poverty data. We use this measure to derive an equalisation grant that would support local governments that have a low fiscal capacity.     

The Flypaper Effect: Do Political Institutions Affect Danish Local Governments’ Response to Intergovernmental Grants?

Abstract

Despite a large number of empirical studies on the flypaper effect, it remains disputed whether the effect exists and to what extent it is asymmetrical. The flypaper effect suggests that intergovernmental grants tend to result in higher increases in public expenditures than a similar increase in citizens’ private income would have led to. An asymmetrical effect exists when the fiscal response differs depending on whether grants are increased or decreased. By considering political institutions that moderate the effect of intergovernmental grants, this article offers a theoretical explanation that accounts for the mixed empirical evidence. The local response to intergovernmental grants is tested using a reform of the Danish intergovernmental grant scheme in 2007. In line with the expectation, the article finds a strong asymmetrical effect, but more surprisingly, this effect is found both when subnational budget institutions are centralised and when they are fragmented.     

Political Fragmentation and Fiscal Status: Evidence from Municipalities in Israel

Abstract

This article analyses the link between fiscal balance and political fragmentation. While a large body of literature states that political fragmentation leads to fiscal deficits, others suggest that political fragmentation is associated with political competition, which tends to improve fiscal balance. These hypotheses are tested using budgetary and political data of municipalities in Israel for the years 1998–2006. The results suggest that both hypotheses may be correct, depending on voting behaviour. In Arab municipalities, where residents vote according to clan affiliation, low levels of political fragmentation are associated with large debts. On the contrary, in Jewish municipalities, low levels of political fragmentation are associated with small debts, since in these cases, coalition formation requires less spending and is easier to sustain.     

By‐laws of I.A.I.

The launch of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) marks the most significant change to the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) since it was launched in 2004. In the wake of the Georgia war in August 2008 and yet another gas crisis in January 2009, the EU clearly needs a more constructive policy towards Eastern Europe. But both the ENP and EaP are based on a contradiction. They offer only the remotest possibility of eventual accession to the EU, but are still based on “accession-light” assumptions, applying the conditionality model of the 1990s to weak states that are a long way from meeting the Copenhagen criteria. The priority in the eastern neighbourhood is not building potential members states but strengthening sovereignty, in the face of an increasingly assertive Russian neighbourhood policy. The game is playing the west off against Russia for geopolitical reward.     

我国不起诉制约机制的探索与完善

不起诉制约机制是不起诉制度的重要内容之一,设置该机制的目的在于对检察机关行使不起诉裁量权进行有效的规范和制约。我国刑事诉讼法中对不起诉裁量权的制约已有相关规定并形成了完备的体系。但在司法实践中仍存在一些问题,这些问题可从多方面改革完善：如建立不起诉听证制度;完善检察机关内部制约机制;完善人民监督员制度。     

Aspectos políticos de la dependencia financiera en los municipios mexicanos1

Specialized literature has analyzed the impact of changes to fiscal institutions such as The National System of Fiscal Coordination (1980) and the constitutional reforms of article 115 (1983 and 1999) on the degree of financial dependence of local (municipal) governments and the governmental functioning. Political environment as well, affects to an important extent such functioning. Indeed, previous studies in the field of political economy point to the effects of political environment and fiscal institutions -such as public spending and debt- on national and sub-national governments. Based on four variables -political affiliation of the mayor, political affiliation of the governor, composition of local congresses and celebration of local elections-, the authors build indicators of “political confluence” at the municipal level. They study the effect that the degree of political unification at the municipal level has on the financial dependence with respect to the State government, and also to the local Congress. In their analysis, the authors also consider the political affiliation of the mayor and the local electoral cycle. Through its analytical focus and main empirical findings, this article contributes to broadening the scope of empirical studies of municipal financial dependence. Simultaneously, it adds to existing literature in the field of political economy that accounts for public finances at the sub-national level     

“司法能动”在中国的展开

原教旨意义上的“司法能动”的核心指的是司法裁判过程中的“立法性”司法。中国法学界对于什么是司法能动在理解上是极不一致的,大多数人根据自己的理解进行了阐发,其中不乏添附、歪曲之界说,甚至以讹传讹之谬误。能动司法在中国的展开,既存在理论根基不足之缺陷,又面临着司法职业化和司法能动化相冲突的尖锐矛盾。但转型社会的现实,又要求中国必须同时完成司法职业化和“中国式”的司法能动化的双重任务。虽然存在诸多不足,司法能动的倡导者提出的问题依然是值得人们认真对待的。