| The world today is undergoing profound and complex changes,with economic globalization,political multipolarization,social informationization,and diversification of threats.International competition is intensifying,science and technology are changing with each passing day,and competition for talents is becoming increasingly fierce.The competition between countries focuses more on the technology and talents,while the development of technology and the cultivation of talents must be realized by education.Particularly,higher education is the basis for improving the science and technology level and cultivating high-quality talents.The report of the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly pointed out that it is necessary to accelerate the implementation of the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education and talents,and cultivate a large number of international-level strategic scientific and technological talents,scientific and technological leaders,young scientific and technological talents and high-level innovative teams.It can be seen that it is necessary to pay attention to the development of higher education,which is conducive to speeding up the realization of the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science,education and talents.Since the reform and opening up,Chinese higher education has developed rapidly and entered the stage of popularization during the “13th Five-Year Plan” period.However,there are still many problems in the field of higher education that need to be resolved,especially the allocation of higher education resources.The scarcity and limitation of higher education resources have led to the demand for resource allocation,and it has also triggered discussions on the fairness,efficiency and sufficiency of higher education resource allocation.Nowadays,the allocation of higher education resources in China shows significant imbalances,such as regional imbalances,inter-university imbalances,and imbalances in disciplines.Among them,the study about imbalance in the allocation of higher education resources between regions has the most extensive impact and the most profound research.The unbalanced allocation of higher education resources between regions not only affects the realization of education equity,but also hinders the full utilization of higher education resources.The balanced allocation of higher education resources between regions is not only a choice of historical evolution,but also conforms to the strategy of coordinated regional development in China.Since the beginning of the establishment of universities in China,higher education resources have been evenly distributed in the northern and southern regions.In the north there was the “Beiyang College” in Tianjin and the “Jingshi Universityl” in Beijing,and the “Nanyang College” in Shanghai in the south.After the establishment of new China,the balanced allocation of higher education resources has been further optimized with the unfolding of the adjustment of colleges and universities,such as the westward relocation of Jiaotong University and the merger of the Physics Department of Nankai University and Lanzhou University,etc.Even to this day,the higher education layout concept of “one province,one school” and “ministerial and provincial joint construction” 14 local colleges all reflect the balanced allocation of higher education resources among regions.In addition,regional coordinated development requires the rational allocation of various elements including higher education resources.The balanced distribution of higher education resources among regions can affect the balance of talent distribution to a certain extent,thereby promoting the coordinated and sustainable social and economic development of various regions.Financial expenditure is the important force in the allocation of higher education resources.As a kind of quasi-public product,higher education is mainly invested by government financial expenditure.From 2013 to 2017,the national fiscal expenditures on higher education accounted for more than 60% in China,and the overall amount and proportion have an upward trend.Therefore,it is feasible and necessary to use the allocation of higher education financial resources as the starting point to explore the balanced allocation of higher education resources in China.The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19 th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China pointed out that Chinese higher education has entered the stage of popularization during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period,which means that the goal of balanced allocation of higher education resources is not only to achieve fairness and efficiency,but also to achieve quality development.This requirement needs to be realized by the allocation of sufficient financial resources for higher education.Adequate allocation of higher education financial resources is to provide students in different regions with the necessary investment in higher education standard financial resources.Adequate education is a higher stage of fairness,which actually combined the fairness and efficiency.Therefore,with the goal of adequate financial resource allocation of higher education,optimizing the balanced allocation of higher education resources is an urgent problem to be solved at this stage.This article focuses on solving the problem of “how to optimize the balanced allocation of financial resources for higher education across regions”.The logic of the article is “the current situation of balanced allocation of financial resources in higher education: regional gap and convergence-the efficiency of higher education financial resource allocation-higher education finance adecuacy under the guidance of budget”.The article has 8 chapters,of which 4-6 chapters are key points.Chapter 1 Introduction.This part mainly introduces the article's research background,core concepts,research purpose and significance,research content methods and the innovations of the research.Chapter 2Literature review.This part combs the basic research,connotation and influencing factors on the allocation of higher education resources,and related research and results on the research trend of the allocation of financial resources of higher education in different regions.Chapter3 Theoretical research on the balanced allocation of higher education financial resources.From a theoretical point of view,this part analyzes the gap in the allocation of regional higher education financial resources and its convergence logic(convergence theory);the legitimacy of the government's allocation of higher education financial resources(public product theory);the impact of higher education financial resource allocation mode on allocation efficiency(Fiscal decentralization theory);how to optimize the balanced allocation of higher education financial resources(educational finance adequacy theory),etc.These theories lay the theoretical foundation for the following research.Chapter 4 to Chapter 6 conduct empirical researches on the regional differences and convergence of the allocation of higher education financial resources,allocation efficiency and fiscal adequacy of higher education.Chapter 4Regional differences and convergence of resource allocation in higher education.Based on the regional division of eastern,central,western,and northeastern,Dagum's Gini coefficient and its decomposition method are used to estimate the gap of Chinese higher education fiscal expenditures across the country and various regions from 2007 to 2018.Then the ?convergence and ? convergence of higher education financial expenditure during this period have be estimated to clarify the fairness and convergence trend of the allocation of higher education financial resources in China.Chapter 5 Estimation of the efficiency of higher education financial expenditure.This chapter uses the three-stage DEA model to estimate the efficiency of higher education financial expenditures from 2009-2013 and 2014-2018.Then analyze the reasons that affect the efficiency of higher education financial resource allocation and provide references for further proposing policies to promote the efficiency of higher education financial expenditures.Chapter 6 Higher education finance adecuacy under the guidance of budget.From the perspective of education adequacy,this chapter estimates the amount of standard fiscal expenditures for higher education in Chine through the construction of a standard fiscal expenditure calculation model under the guidance of budgets.By comparing with the actual expenditures,the adequacy rate of Chinese higher education fiscal expenditures is obtained.It is used to explain the difference of higher education financial expenditure in various regions,so as to optimize the allocation of higher education financial resources in a targeted manner.Chapter 7 International experience in resource allocation of higher education.This chapter selects some countries' higher education resource allocation practices to analyze,in order to provide relevant experience and reference for optimizing the balanced allocation of higher education resources in my country.Chapter 8 Main conclusions and policy recommendations.Based on the above research results,this chapter sum up relevant research conclusions and proposes policy recommendations for the balanced allocation of higher education resources between regions.Finally,briefly elaborates further research prospects and expectations.The research methods used in this article mainly include literature research,normative analysis and empirical analysis.(1)The literature research method uses a wide range of domestic and foreign academic journals,dissertations,professional books,national policy documents,newspapers,research reports,work reports,statistical yearbooks and other literature materials to provide a comprehensive analysis of the concepts,research status,current resource allocation,differences and convergence in regions,efficiency and adequate finance of higher education in China.(2)The normative analysis method is guided by subjective value judgments to establish value judgment standards in order to explore the essence of things.This article builds the theoretical system and optimization logic of the balanced allocation of higher education financial resources through the study of convergence theory,public product theory,fiscal decentralization theory and education fiscal adequacy theory.(3)The empirical analysis takes the theoretical premises and assumptions summarized in economic phenomena as the starting point to objectively analyze the relationship between various economic phenomena.This paper uses Dagum's Gini coefficient and its decomposition method,convergence test,three-stage DEA model and education finance adequacy measurement and a series of statistical and measurement methods to study the current situation and optimization of the allocation of higher education financial resources.According to the above research ideas,this article mainly draws the following conclusions through systematic theoretical and empirical analysis:(1)The government plays a leading role in the balanced allocation of higher education resources.First of all,from the reality of Chinese higher education funding input and the main body of organization,fiscal funding account for a relatively large proportion of the total funding for higher education and government play an important role in the allocation of higher education resources.There were 1,854 public colleges and universities nationwide in2018,which is much higher than other ordinary colleges and universities such as private schools.Secondly,from the perspective of the theoretical analysis,the balanced allocation of higher education resources is not simply the pursuit of fairness or efficiency,but the unity of fairness and efficiency.The balanced allocation of higher education resources that take into account both fairness and efficiency must rely on the fairness preference of the allocation subject,which requests that the balanced allocation of higher education resources should be realized under the leadership of the government.Finally,according to the three-tier system of "budget-vision-planning",the government should achieve a balanced allocation of higher education financial resources through the calculation of the adequacy of higher education finance under the guidance of the budget.(2)The allocation of financial resources for higher education in China is characterized by uneven regional distribution,large gaps,and inconspicuous convergence in some regions.On the whole,Chinese allocation of financial resources in higher education shows an obvious spatial distribution of "high in the east and low in the west".Judging from the decomposition result of the Gini coefficient,the regional disparity in higher education fiscal expenditure contributes little to the overall disparity,and the inter-regional disparity is the main source of the overall disparity.The gap between the eastern region and other regions is the largest,while the gap between the central region and the northeastern region is the smallest.In addition,the gap between all regions tends to narrow during 2007-2018.Although the regional gap in Chinese higher education financial expenditure has improved in recent years,the regional gap is still relatively obvious.There are ? convergence,absolute ? convergence and conditional ? convergence trends across the country,but the speed and time of conditional? convergence cannot be calculated,which shows that although the current expenditure of higher education in China has a trend of convergence,it has not yet formed a stable convergence path.From a regional perspective,except for the eastern region,all other regions do not have an obvious ? convergence trend.Only the central region has a more significant absolute ? convergence in all time periods and all regions have a conditional ? convergence trend,but it has not yet form a convergence path that suits you.(3)Unreasonable expenditure scale is the main reason that affects the efficiency of higher education financial resource allocation in China.Using the three-stage DEA model to estimate the efficiency of Chinese higher education financial expenditures,it is found that after removing the influence of environmental factors and random interference factors,the efficiency is still not ideal.The national average overall efficiency in the first stage and the third stage in 2014-2018 has not changed much,indicating that most of the efficiency loss of Chinese higher education fiscal expenditure comes from the ineffective internal management.Further dividing the overall efficiency into pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency,the efficiency loss of higher education fiscal expenditures in most areas showed to be caused by lower scale efficiency.Except for Beijing,Guangdong,Jiangsu and Shandong,most provinces have a trend of increasing returns to scale.It shows that the expenditure scale of Chinese higher education finance in different regions is unreasonable,and there is still room for expanding the allocation of financial resources in many areas.Thus the allocation of higher education financial resources needs to be optimized.(4)The allocation of financial resources in Chinese higher education still has the problems of low adequacy rate and large fiscal expenditure gap.The proportion of China's higher education fiscal expenditure in the national GDP is slightly lower than that of western developed countries,but has a certain upward trend in recent years.The national higher education fiscal expenditure adequacy ratio is only 0.79,and the higher education fiscal expenditure gap reached 139.55 billion yuan.In 2017,only four provinces' actual fiscal expenditures for higher education,including Beijing,Shanghai,Zhejiang,and Guangdong,reach the standard value of fiscal expenditures,and the fiscal adequacy ratio exceeds 1.The fiscal adequacy ratio in most provinces is inadequate,and the serious regions is the central and the northeastern.Based on the above research conclusions and combined with the relevant experience of international higher education resource allocation,this article puts forward the following policy recommendations on optimizing the balanced allocation of higher education resources in China:(1)Guarantee the steady growth of higher education financial expenditures.To achieve a steady increase in higher education financial expenditures,a reasonable educational funding growth mechanism needs to be established.The amount of higher education financial expenditures need to be determined on the amount in the previous year and the budget management of higher education education funding needs to be strictly implemented.The higher education financial funds can be included in the scope of budget management to improve the efficiency of the use of higher education financial funds.(2)Promote the balanced allocation of higher education financial resources across regions.On the one hand,it is necessary to increase the central government's transfer payments to higher education,especially to provinces with lower levels of economic development in the central and western regions in order to ease the pressure on local fiscal expenditures.On the other hand,some measures should be taken,like further improve the allocation and management of higher education financial funds,increase the "support for the reform and development of local colleges and universities" for the central and western regions,implement the higher education preference policy for the central and western regions,and promote the balanced allocation of higher education financial resources among regions.(3)Establish a diversified financing system for higher education.First,the government's dominant position in the allocation of higher education resources cannot be changed.The government plays its leading role in the allocation of higher education resources through legislative guidance,financial appropriations,and policy regulations.This is the basic requirement of a diversified higher education financing system.Second,we must establish a scientific and reasonable cost-sharing mechanism.Learn from Japan's low-interest loans and tax incentives to mobilize the enthusiasm of private capital to invest in higher education;encourage universities to adopt foreign research cooperation and provide research services to create economic benefits and promote the transformation of scientific research results.Lastly,it is necessary to strengthen the supervision and management of the use of funds in the field of higher education to avoid the disorder and waste of resource input.(4)Improve the quality evaluation mechanism of higher education.One way is to establish a third-party higher education quality assessment agency certified by the government to conduct regular higher education quality assessments,so as to obtain reference opinions on the allocation of higher education financial resources.Combining the evaluation of education quality with the allocation of financial resources can not only stimulate the enthusiasm of universities to improve the quality of education,but also improve the efficiency of the allocation of financial resources.Another way is that colleges and universities should pay attention to the evaluation and management of their own comprehensive quality and evaluate the overall educational quality of colleges and universities in terms of teaching,scientific research,facilities and equipment.Thereby,the efficiency of colleges and universities could be continuously improved.The main innovations of this article are as follows:(1)The concept of convergence is used to study the convergence trend of higher education financial expenditure.In the process of exploring the regional differences and convergence of the allocation of financial resources in higher education,this article not only uses the traditional Gini coefficient and its decomposition method to analyze the time point status of the regional differences in higher education financial expenditures,but also uses the convergence measurement for the first time to reveals the changing state and sustainability of the regional differences in higher education financial expenditures in consecutive periods.Thus,it provides a more comprehensive explanation of the regional imbalance in the allocation of Chinese higher education financial resources.(2)The three-stage DEA model is used to analyze the influencing factors of higher education financial expenditure efficiency.The DEA model is a non-parametric analysis method for measuring the relative effectiveness of decision-making units.There have been many studies using this model as a method for evaluating the efficiency of higher education,but few scholars use the three-stage DEA model to eliminate environmental factors and random factors.This makes the evaluation of the efficiency of higher education financial expenditures biased.This paper attempts to use the three-stage DEA model to eliminate the influence of environmental factors including the per capita GDP of each province,the environment of university clusters,the degree of government decentralization,and random factors to obtain the inefficiency of higher education financial expenditures caused by internal management.As a result,unreasonable expenditure scale is the main factor affecting the efficiency of higher education financial expenditure.(3)Measuring a pioneering calculation of the adequacy of higher education fiscal expenditures.Through the calculation of the financial adequacy of higher education,this article not only quantified the problem of the large gap in Chinese higher education financial expenditure,but also clearly pointed out the difference in higher education financial expenditure in various regions,so as to provide a concrete reference basis for the balanced allocation of higher education financial resources. |
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