The Research On The Economic Functions Of Local Governments In The Economic Development Of West China

Nowadays, the economy of West China has not been properly developed. To some degree, the economic gap between the western and eastern regions still exists and is expanding. In response, many scholars have carried on the beneficial exploration from the talent, the technology, and the fund areas and so on. In addition to the factors above, for a country being transferred from the planned economy to the market economy, the impact of the local government in economic development is very significant, whose importance and function are irreplaceable. For local governments of eastern regions, they are constantly enhancing the adaptiveness to the market economy while they promote the economic development, so the eastern regions have rapid development in the aspect of economy; for the western regions, the economic functions of the local governments change slowly. To some degree, they can not meet the demands of the development of market economy. How to fully display its proper economic functions and how to optimize their own behavior well are really very important for the local government in less developed western regions. Meanwhile, they are the internal requirements for shortening the gap between the west and the east, and also the urgent needs for the economic transforming in our country. Therefore, the study on the economic functions of local government has a very important theoretical and obviously practical significance.Based on the current studies, the author of this paper has made a new framework to the economic functions of the western local governments, by combining the western regions' economic conditions and the specific requirements of the great-leap-forward development. In this framework, the economic functions of the western local government should be divided into two parts: the general function of economic developing and essential function of great-leap-forward development. Previous studies did not clarify the demarcation of the economic functions of local government in the west, and made a vague knowledge of the specific requirements to the general development and the great-leap-forward development. This demarcation provides more specific and scientific theory reference to the economic functions of local governments in the western economic development, and overcome deficiencies in previous studies.The general economic function that local governments display is the basic function based on the economic development conducted by the western local governments, which is needed by conventional economic functions of the regional economic development of local government. The difference lies in the economic conditions which lead to the difference development. For example, compared to other regions, the general economic function in west China should give more emphasis on the ecological construction. It should include five aspects inter-connecting with each other: putting the macroeconomic regulation and control into practice, and providing the public product; driving industrial restructure, and improving operation quality of the economy; promoting the development of export-oriented economy, and participating actively in the international division of labor; pushing forward the educational development and providing the foundation safeguard to the human resources; ensuring sustainable development and ecological construction and so on.What the western economic development need is not only the routine step-by-step development, but also the great-leap-forward development, so that the current interests of the whole country can be served and the benefit of the western regions can be achieved. This paper analyzes and induces the essential economic functions displayed by the western local governments when the great-leap-forward development can be realized. The key to achieve the great-leap-forward development of economy of West China is to carry out its great advantage. Institutional and technological innovation are main channels through which the potential advantage become the reality. They are also the main achievement of the great-leap-forward development. Institutional and technological innovation is obviously difficult to complete relying on the western weak markets, so the western local governments should be the leading force in the western regions' institutional innovation, and also the leading force in constructing regional innovation system.Based on the theoretical analysis, this paper employed methods such as the principal component analysis which is chose in the evaluation of the regional competitiveness to make a comprehensive, quantitative and objective analysis and evaluation on the economic state of the western provinces and cities, the economic functions of local government and enterprises' developing state. Some other methods are also employed such as correlation and regression analysis, It reveals that, since the great development of the west China, the economic functions of the local government have been closely related with the economic development state. Thus, based on the empirical analysis, it is concluded that the local government should lead the western economic development. What's more, this paper made positive efforts and exploration on the lack of evidence analysis of the economic functions of local government in the west.In the end, this paper has made a deep analysis on some current issues when local governments supersede markets and play as an important role in the economic development. Accordingly, some countermeasures have been brought forward based on the related theory.