“放管服”改革的行政法意义及其完善

与先前行政审批制度改革相比,党的十八大以来大力推进的"放管服"改革更加强调权力调整的动态性、整体性、系统性,其对于优化政府职责、转变监管方式、深入推进国家治理体系和能力现代化具有明显的积极意义。但此轮"放管服"改革依然沿袭了行政审批制度改革的运动化、政策化思路,并不完全符合法治政府建设的基本要求。从职权法定、监管工具的动态调整、优化公共服务的基本法则三个方面,"放管服"改革的行政法意义和合法性风险可以得到更加清晰的呈现。要提升"放管服"改革的法治品性,需要以《行政许可法》的有效实施为核心,通过设立专门的社会化的"放管服"改革委员会、激活行政许可评价制度、引入更广泛的专家和社会参与、完善试验改革的授权制度、优化规制工具分析评价制度几个方面来实现。     

Decentralization and Economic Growth: Specification,Measurement, and Direction of Causal Relationship

The concept of decentralization has attracted the attention of scholars and policy makers alike for number of decades. Yet, there still remains a significant amount of confusion over its measurement and its contribution to an economy. Current literature on decentralization is characterized by the multitude of conflicting definitions and measurement instruments. Current literature on the relationship of decentralization and economic growth is also mixed. This article builds on the existing literature and develops a decentralization index that includes its most frequently mentioned dimensions. We find that our newly developed index captures decentralization concept better than other tools and that there is no significant relationship between decentralization and economic growth.     

Iron Houses in the Tropical Heat: Decentralization Reforms in Africa and their Consequences

Abstract

Decentralization reforms introduced to Africa have not always delivered the intended outcomes. Through interaction with the broader historical, political, social and economic context, reforms seem to have engendered political consequences beyond decentralization itself. Most of the literature on decentralization and development emphasizes questions of institutional design and policy, but here we expand the focus of analysis and incorporate the harder-to-pin-down political patterns marking the workings of decentralization in Africa. Through the case-studies of Ghana, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ethiopia and Uganda we seek to connect the debates on development with the scholarly literatures on comparative federalism, comparative decentralization and local democracy. The conclusion that emerges is that no magic formula which can turn countries into peaceful, stable and prosperous democracies overnight exists. And, importing formal institutions without regard to the local historical, political, social and economic context risks leaving us with elegant but dysfunctional iron houses in the tropical heat.     

中国式分权下的地方政府竞争对FDI技术溢出效应的影响

中国式分权的典型特点是以政治集权为实施背景,政治经济双重激励下各地方政府针对FDI展开激烈的优惠政策竞争,这些竞争会通过降低流入外资质量或提高外资企业相对竞争力的方式影响FDI的技术溢出效应。本文利用1995--2006年省级动态面板数据考察了分税制改革后财政分权对FDI技术溢出效应的影响。研究发现,FDI可以显著提高我国全要素生产率水平,但财政分权带来的恶性引资竞争会阻碍这种促进作用;分地区回归表明,东部地区地方政府竞争不会阻碍FDI对技术进步的促进作用;西部地区引资质量较低,FDI会阻碍区内生产率水平提高,并且地方政府竞争会加剧这种阻碍作用。     

网络权力：国际战略层面的新思考

网络信息时代,权力的内涵发生了深刻变化,非政府行为体和个人变得更加活跃,并冲击到了政府的权威。权力流散使国际格局发生了新的变化,行为体多元化和“一超多强”的国际力量对比关系将平行存在。未来的发展趋势将是,网络空间成为国家间竞争的新领域,网络权力成为争夺的新焦点。中国作为有影响力的世界大国,也需要应对网络信息时代的机遇与挑战,构建符合自身未来发展的网络空间战略。     

Incumbents and Innovations under Decentralization: An Empirical Exploration of Selected Local Governments in the Philippines

Abstract

Like in other developing countries, many local governments in the Philippines have become innovative under decentralization. We investigate here the drivers of local innovations, with focus on quality of incumbent leaders, their political incentives and fiscal resources. We applied Poisson regressions on a survey data comprising 209 innovations introduced in 48 cities and municipalities during the period June 2004–June 2008. The statistically significant factors are the mayor's competence (age, educational attainment), re-election status and term in office. Innovations appear to increase with local fiscal resources but at decreasing rate. Access to information appears not to matter much. However, these factors, including poverty rates, vary in relative importance in explaining innovations in expenditure services, and in revenue and public administration services. Some policy inputs are suggested.     

Managerialism Meets Regime: A Distinctively Singaporean Marriage?

Managerial reforms were once assumed to be apolitical, and hence universally applied to various political settings. This assumption has been widely contested; some argue that managerial reforms are not applicable to countries outside what are termed Western liberal democracies, due to differing political contexts. The case of Singapore offers a counter-argument to these claims—managerial reforms were well-received in the state and its bureaucracy; both of which were vastly different from those of liberal democracies. The article further argues that this was not a coincidence; there seem to be salient reasons why managerial reforms were able to ‘marry’ Singapore's regime. This case study offers insights vis-à-vis a broader question: whether and how managerial reforms can be justified within and received in differing political contexts. It seems imperative to address this question, given the implications for future scholarship and how managerialism is a significant matter of concern to many governments worldwide.     

Beyond Identities: Political Determinants of Support for Decentralization in Contemporary Spain

Support for decentralization has generally been considered an outcome derived from the existence of regional or subnational identities. A recent complementary explanation has highlighted the role of politics to create regionally orientated support. We combine these two explanations by studying what determines the support for decentralization in Spain, an almost unique case where these two approaches can be tested. Using a hierarchical model, we show that in those regions without a different subnational identity, some citizens develop regionally orientated support because of their wish to bring the administration closer to the citizens and because their preferred party is pushing for further decentralization. In addition, we highlight the importance of considering decentralization as an outcome derived from party dynamics, which are able to shape political attitudes towards decentralization.     

The Geography of Governance in Africa: New Tools from Satellites,Surveys and Mapping Initiatives

Abstract

Research on decentralization in Africa and beyond has made clear that the quality of decentralized governance is highly variable across localities within countries. In light of that variation, this article has three goals: first, we critique existing academic research on the quality of governance in light of work on decentralized governance in Africa; second, we provide a conceptual map of how to theorize subnational variation in the quality of governance in settings characterized by considerable dependence on higher authorities for revenues; and third, we outline a series of data initiatives that offer the opportunity to study local and regional politics in new and exciting ways across the region. We conclude with great optimism about the prospects for innovative work on decentralized governance within countries across the region.     

发展中国家分权化治理的进程、框架及际遇考察——从分权化改革到分权化治理

20世纪70年代后,广大发展中国家相继进行了分权化改革运动,并逐步形成了一种分权化治理模式。本文在分析发展中国家推进分权化改革的动因和方略的基础上,梳理了分权化治理的概念框架及目标,最后对发展中国家在治理模式创新的际遇中发展和完善问题进行了评价和分析。