Do Nasty and Pleasant Surprises Regarding Tax Revenue Explain Spending Drifts? The Case of the Swiss Cantons

This article aims to explain the difference between the expenditure reported in governmental end-of-the-year budgets and the amounts previously forecasted in the approved beginning-of-the-year budgets. We measure how political, financial, and institutional variables affect this spending drift. We focus on two much-debated factors, namely, tax revenue budgeting errors and the stringency of fiscal rules. Our econometric approach uses a panel based on the 26 Swiss cantons covering the period of 1980 to 2011. Results suggest that stringent fiscal rules discourage budget overruns, whereas underestimating tax revenue—i.e., a budgetary “pleasant surprise”—offers the opportunity for some overspending.     

服务输出:广东经济的新增长点

根据对广东三次产业输入与输出情况的对比 ,广东服务业的输入大于输出 ,广东总体上是一个服务输入省。其中 ,货物运输服务有高额的服务输入 ,仓储服务、商业服务和保险服务也都有程度不同的服务输入。面临中国即将加入 WTO,服务业逐步开放的新形势 ,服务输出是广东经济的新增长点。今后广东要以体制改革提供动力 ,巩固服务输出优势行业 ,提升服务输出劣势行业 ,大力开拓新的服务输出行业。     

Private Firm CSR,Executive Compensation and Firm Output Performance: Theoretical and Empirical Analysis from the Perspective of the Enterprise’s Actual Decision

Based on the analysis of Chinese private enterprises’ fulfillment of corporate social responsibility,this paper first constructs a theoretical model under the principal-agent framework on CSR,executive compensation and enterprise output performance from the perspective of a firm’s actual decision maker. Then it employs the 2009-2014 panel data of private listed companies to empirically test the theoretical propositions. The empirical results show that: 1） executive compensation is significantly and positively correlated with firm output performance; 2）the relationship between private enterprise corporate social responsibility and firm output performance presents "inverted U-shape"; 3）private enterprise CSR investment will significantly reduce the executive pay-performance sensitivity. This paper raises our awareness of private enterprises’ fulfilling corporate social responsibility, and is of good reference value for the further research on the motivation of private enterprises CSR fulfillment; and at the meantime,it is also a help for corporate executive compensation contract design.     

绩效预算法律问题研究

实行绩效预算是20世纪80年代以来西方主要发达国家推行政府预算改革的新趋向,也是我国解决财政资金使用效率和效益低下问题的制度选择。绩效预算以结果为导向,以绩效评价为关键,以分权为激励,以监督和责任为约束,与投入导向型的传统预算制度明显不同。借鉴西方国家绩效预算制度实践的有益经验,我国深入推进绩效预算制度改革依然面临路径依赖、自身局限和制度环境等多个方面的约束。为此,我国应以《预算法》修改为契机,适时嵌入绩效预算制度,通过预算权在政府、权力机关和社会公众之间的优化配置,以绩效评价为核心的专门性制度建设和相关制度的及时跟进,为持续推进绩效预算改革提供有力的法律保障。     

Fiscal Stress Management During the Financial and Economic Crisis: The Case of the Baltic Countries

The Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—were severely hit by the global financial and economic crisis in 2008–2011. In response to the crisis, all three states chose to undertake extensive fiscal consolidations. This article examines the strategies adopted by the Baltic governments for managing fiscal stress and consolidating their budgets in the light of the existing literature on cutback budgeting. In all three countries, the governments combined expenditure and revenue measures, with a larger share of adjustment taking place on the expenditure side. Among expenditure measures, a mix of across-the-board and targeted cuts was adopted, though the importance of targeted cuts increased over time. The case studies also indicate that although the theoretical propositions of the cutback budgeting literature point to the correct directions overall, further refinement is needed in several theoretical issues.     

An Analysis of Institutional and Political Factors Affecting State Capital Expenditure

Abstract

This article examines state government spending patterns for capital projects during the late 1970s and early 1980s as a function of some of the institutional arrangements and procedural characteristics of state legislatures. The analysis is informed by the literature on distributive policymaking, which argues that lawmakers seek to send targetable benefits, such as capital projects, to their constituencies in pursuit of personal electoral benefits. Using a pooled, cross‐sectional time‐series approach, the authors find that states with a large number of seats in the lower chambers of their legislatures devoted a somewhat smaller portion of their state budgets to capital projects than did states with smaller lower chambers, ceteris paribus. Contrary to some log‐rolling models, the number of appropriations bills employed by a legislature seems to discourage capital spending, as does membership turnover in the upper chamber. This indicates that the capital budgeting process is not nearly as dominated by the executive branch as is commonly believed.     

试论政府形象危机的构成

政府形象的好坏关系到政策执行的难易程度、社会稳定程度以及社会公众对政府的信任度。政府形象危机的出现重则威胁到政府的执政基础和政权的稳定性,轻则影响社会公众对政府的满意度和政府职能的履行。政府形象危机实质上包括政府合法性危机、政府产出危机和政府理念危机三个部分,其中的任何一种危机都会危及政府的形象。对政府形象危机构成的认识有助于构建有效的政府形象修复和救治体制。     

论家庭联产承包责任制为发展农村民主政治所作的贡献

家庭承包责任制是我国广大农民发扬社会主义民主和自主精神的产物。责任制最大限度解放农村社会生产力 ,调动了广大农民参与农村民主政治建设的积极性 ;责任制加快了农村经济的发展和农村社会的进步 ,为推进农村民主政治建设打下更加坚实的物质基础。     

论平衡活动教学法

一段时间以来,就中国的英语教学,人们有不同的看法。一些人认为交际法不恰当,而另一些人认为传统的语法、翻译法太过时了。本方简要分析了平衡活动法产生的理论背景及其优越性。认为它克服了交际法及语法、翻译法的片面性,适用于我国的英语教学实际。它主张英语学习中习得与学习、输入与输出的平衡,从而更能提高学生的外语综合能力。     

日本汽车产业关联分析及对中国产业发展的启示——在日本大地震的背景下

汽车产业是日本国民经济的核心产业部门,对上、下游产业部门具有很强的拉动、推动作用。同时,日本汽车产业通过国际间产业关联影响着其他国家经济的发展。日本大地震严重影响了受灾企业的生产恢复,这必将给中国企业带来机遇。中国企业要大胆"走出去",走国际化道路,锤炼民族品牌,提高民族品牌的国际知名度;同时,政府也要对自主品牌给予税收支持、相关补贴和优惠政策,建立全球采购体系。