RISING WITH THE TIDE WITHOUT FLIPPING THE BOAT — ANALYZING THE SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES OF FISCAL CAPACITY BUILDING IN CHINA

While many developing countries experience a short period of economic boom and then spiral quickly into periods of deficit, currency fluctuation, and indebtedness, China has been able to sustain rapid economic growth and maintain solid fiscal capacity for the past 30 years, even during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and the global recession in the beginning of the 21st century. This article examines three key strategies behind China's fiscal success — its flexibility in adapting tax policies to the changing economic and social conditions, its success in realigning the intergovernmental fiscal relationship in 1994 and forcing subnational governments to become more entrepreneurial in revenue generation, and its pursuit of institutional reforms since the mid‐1990s to improve the government's capacity in budgeting and financial management. The article evaluates the implications of the Chinese experience for other developing countries and discusses the future challenges of fiscal reforms in China. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘Spending Wisely: Principles for a Good Spending Review': The First Report of the Fabian Commission on Future Spending Choices

This article examines the work of the Fabian Society Commission on Future Spending Choices published in June 2013. The Commission is undoubtedly the most detailed and ambitious attempt by a centre‐left think‐tank to analyse the structure of UK public spending since Labour's 2010 defeat. The Commission makes an eloquent case for a strategic approach to UK public spending, filling the substantial void in thinking on the centre‐left since Labour's 2010 defeat. Inevitably, the proposals raise fundamental questions about the capacity of the British state and the constitutional framework of the UK political system to accommodate a long‐term, future‐orientated approach to public expenditure, which deserve to be properly aired and debated.     

高等职业教育财政拨款体制的国际比较

高等职业教育作为高等教育的重要组成部分,有着不可替代的作用和意义。教育投入已经成为当前我国高等职业教育发展的瓶颈,此文中尤以财政拨款体制问题最为突出。通过比较与分析美国、芬兰和澳大利亚高等职业教育财政拨款的数额状况、来源分配、绩效体系以及法案保障等内容发现,我国目前应着力加大中央政府财政拨款、健全财政拨款的绩效机制以及加快高职教育投入立法进程,这是完善我国高职教育财政拨款体制的主要路径。     

The politics of fiscal policy during economic downturns, 1981–2010

This article investigates fiscal policy responses to the Great Recession in historical perspective. It explores general trends in the frequency, size and composition of fiscal stimulus as well as the impact of government partisanship on fiscal policy outputs during the four international recessions of 1980–1981, 1990–1991, 2001–2002 and 2008–2009. Encompassing 17–23 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, the analysis calls into question the idea of a general retreat from fiscal policy activism since the early 1980s. The propensity of governments to respond to economic downturns by engaging in fiscal stimulus has increased over time and no secular trend in the size of stimulus measures is observed. At the same time, OECD governments have relied more on tax cuts to stimulate demand in the two recessions of the 2000s than they did in the early 1980s or early 1990s. Regarding government partisanship, no significant direct partisan effects on either the size or the composition of fiscal stimulus is found for any of the four recession episodes. However, the size of the welfare state conditioned the impact of government partisanship in the two recessions of the 2000s, with left‐leaning governments distinctly more prone to engaging in discretionary fiscal stimulus and/or spending increases in large welfare states, but not in small welfare states.     

Differences That Matter: Overcoming Methodological Nationalism in Comparative Social Policy Research

Abstract

Welfare states are often discussed as if they were territorially homogeneous state-wide institutions measurable by state-wide expenditure averages and explained by country-level variables. It is rare in comparative policy studies to investigate the role of territorial politics in the outcomes of even federal countries. This article argues, using social policy examples in the UK and US, that the impact of intergovernmental finance and division of labour profoundly shapes social investment and redistribution – producing almost as much expenditure variance within the US as within the OECD. The findings show the importance of incorporating territorial politics and intergovernmental arrangements into comparative welfare state and policy analysis.     

财政分权制度模式比较与中国的选择

经过对相关国家财政分权实践的考察,可以概括出财政分权的制度模式主要有两种,即对称型和非对称型。在当代社会经济发展呈现复杂化的现实背景下,两种制度模式存在融合趋势。基于特定的政治文化和国家体制等方面的原因,中国应该选择非对称型作为未来财政分权的制度模式。     

New Trend in Economic Development

正THE 2013 Central Economic Work Conference,an annual tone-setting economic meeting attended by top Chinese leaders,listed six major tasks for2014:ensuring food safety,industrial restructuring,controlling debt risks,promoting coordinated development between different regions,improving people’s livelihood and deepening reform and opening-up.     

我国地方政府公共财政支出结构偏向分析——基于晋升锦标赛的理论视角

晋升锦标赛制度激发了地方政府官员发展经济的积极性。然而,晋升锦标赛的激励导向与公共财政的合理支出结构之间有内在矛盾。由于与官员晋升指标的弱相关性,基本公共服务财政支出长期低于社会需求水平,降低了社会福利。因此,必须通过一些措施、机制等,降低晋升锦标赛的强激励,促进公共财政支出结构的优化。     

从凤凰山汉简看西汉地方财政税收

凤凰山汉简是研究西汉赋税的重要资料。与以往对此研究焦点多集中在赋税额度上不同,本文则从地方财政角度重新审视这批简牍,以口钱为切入点,认为凤凰山汉简所载的口钱条目并不是向未成年人征收的人头税,也不是简单意义上向成年人征收的人头税,而是与简牍上其它条目一样,是地方财政的一部分,用来供给地方行政长官的公务费用。     

财政联邦主义理论及政府间关系分析模式概述

财政联邦主义理论体系根植于西方国家长期的民主政治和地方自治实践及经验总结,政府间关系分析模式业已突破传统单纯关注中央——地方二元结构的思维局限,逐渐发展成为多元主体相互影响下的网络体系,同时融入其他学科的理论假设进入分析框架。