Research On The Impact Of Transfer Payments On The Equalization Of Basic Public Services Between Regions

The goal of equalization of basic public services is an important task for China's current economic and social development to enter the stage of high-quality development.The transfer payment system is an important institutional arrangement to promote the equalization of basic public services and ensure the demand of residents in backward areas for basic public services.The report to the 19 th National Congress made it clear that we will continue to deepen the reform of the fiscal and tax systems and improve the system of transfer payments.We will establish a fiscal relationship between the central and local governments in which powers and responsibilities are clearly defined,financial resources are coordinated,and regional balance is maintained,and ensure that "basic public services will be equalized by 2035." Therefore,a comprehensive study on the mechanism of the influence of transfer payment system on the equalization of basic public services between regions is not only necessary to accurately grasp the key to the equalization of basic public services,but also a study on how to improve the transfer payment system to ensure the realization of the goal of equalization of basic public services.It is also related to the intergovernmental authority and the division of expenditure responsibility,intergovernmental allocation of financial resources and other important aspects of the content of fiscal reform,which has certain reference value for further deepening the fiscal reform.Centering on the research theme of promoting the equalization of basic public services between regions by transfer payment system,this paper investigates as comprehensively as possible the mechanism of the effect of transfer payment system on the equalization of basic public services between regions.In the impact on the transfer payment system of equal basic public services between regions financial operation mechanism,on the basis of analyzing framework,this paper holds that the system of transfer payments to play to the role of equal basic public services between regions,mainly depends on financial equalization effect of transfer payments,transfer payments to local basic public service supply incentive,transfer payment funds management three aspects of performance.Therefore,this paper revolves around financial equalization effect of transfer payments,transfer payment system,incentive mechanism of local basic public service supply,transfer payments under provincial capital management and distribution system such as the theme,to explore the basic public service supply in the local government financial behavior preference,regional fiscal competition mechanism,the factors of transfer payment system.The main research contents and conclusions of this paper include the following:First,it analyzes the status quo of the transfer payment system and the equalization of basic public services between regions.First of all,from the perspective of the implementation of scale of transfer payment system,while China's transfer payment scale of absolute stable growth,but the relative scale of transfer payment,the transfer payment in China does not present a development trend of steady growth,on the contrary,in recent years the transfer payment of local fiscal expenditure relative scale even present a fall.From the perspective of the structure of transfer payments,although the proportion of general transfer payments with strong fiscal equalization function has maintained a steady growth,the proportion of special transfer payments,which the government has always emphasized to reduce,has not decreased significantly.In addition,according to the structural characteristics of local interval transfer payment distribution,although less developed regions with backward financial resources have received relatively more general transfer payments,developed regions with better financial conditions have received relatively more special transfer payments.Second,from the current situation of regional equalization of basic public service supply,though,our country's basic public services disparity between regions,on the whole,presents the development trend of the gap,but as the transfer payment scale of relative decline in recent years,the current level of regional basic public service supply there is the risk of the widening gap between.Finally,from the perspective of the inter-regional financial equalization effect of transfer payment,the distribution of transfer payment does not fully tilt to regions with lower financial resources,and the inter-regional financial equalization effect of China's transfer payment system is still insufficient.However,compared with the concentration rate of transfer payment and local owned financial resources,by reducing the level of local owned financial resources to further improve the scale of transfer payment redistribution,it is helpful to improve the level of equalization of financial capacity among regions and thus promote the equalization of basic public services among regions.Second,the theoretical and empirical analysis of the influence of transfer payment system on the supply of basic public services under the incentive mechanism of local fiscal preference.In focus on the economic growth target as the official performance evaluation standard of the local finance preference incentive mechanism,the local governments in obtaining transfer payment of money after improvement,pay more attention to by increasing investment in productive public goods in order to improvethe local economic growth,relatively,the transfer payment did not improve the initiative of place of basic public service supply.It is worth noting that,compared with the developed areas with relatively high basic public service level,the underdeveloped areas with low basic public service level are more inclined to increase the input of productive public goods after receiving the improvement of transfer payment.Therefore,from the perspective of the incentive mechanism of the transfer payment system for the supply of local basic public services,under the local fiscal preference mechanism that takes economic growth as the main criterion for the performance assessment of officials,the transfer payment system,to some extent,inhibits the equalization of basic public services among regions.Thirdly,the theoretical and empirical analysis of the influence of transfer payment distribution on the supply of basic public services under the mechanism of interregional competitive strategy interaction.By constructing a simple theoretical model of mobile capital competition,this paper analyzes the interregional strategy interaction mechanism of transfer payment distribution's influence on local basic public service supply in a general equilibrium framework that includes two levels of government and multi-place competition.The results of theoretical analysis and empirical estimation of space panel show that the transfer payments obtained by competitive regions will worsen the local supply of basic public services through the spatial strategy interaction mechanism.In terms of the structure types of sub-transfer payments,compared with general transfer payments,the competitive strategic interaction for the allocation of special transfer payments has a higher degree of restriction on the supply of local basic public services.In terms of sub-regions,the less developed areas that receive more aid and the developed areas that receive less transfer payment funds have a stronger response to the competitive strategy interaction between transfer payment distribution and the supply of basic public services among regions,which has a higher degree of restriction on the supply of local basic public services.Fourth,taking compulsory education as an example,based on the characteristic facts of the bias of basic public service supply,the theoretical and empirical analysis is carried out on the formation mechanism of the bias of transfer payment system on the influence of basic public service supply of "emphasizing hardware over software,emphasizing city over countryside".It is found that the transfer payment system exacerbates the "heavy hardware,light software" of local basic public services,especially exacerbates the supply bias of rural basic public services.Transfer payments exacerbate the gap in the quality of basic public services reflected in "software" inputs between urban and rural areas.Moreover,the less developed areas with relatively backward input in basic public service "software" are more inclined to increase investment in "hardware" after they get improved financial resources of transfer payment.Fifthly,the paper probes into the financial allocation behavior of local governments at higher levels in the allocation of transfer payment funds under the provincial level.Due to the non-standard management and distribution of transfer payment funds under the provincial level,the local higher-level governments have the motivation and space to intercept transfer payment funds in the process of transfer payment funds allocation among governments under the provincial level.Heterogeneity area supervisor to transfer payment funds allocation behavior of local government exists obvious difference,the developed areas of the superior local governments tend to under provincial government subsidies to reduce the outflow of the local resources,and less developed region of superior local governments tend to intercept should be allocated to the transfer payment funds to meet the demand of fiscal spending at the corresponding level.This kind of heterogeneous distribution behavior may lead to the Matthew effect and widen the financial gap between regions and governments below the provincial level,thus causing obstacles to the goal of equalization of basic public services.The research of this paper means that the central government should not only start from the scale and structure of transfer payment system,increase the scale of transfer payment redistribution and increase the proportion of general transfer payment in the implementation of the strategy of promoting the equalization of public services among regions.Moreover,it is necessary to improve the performance of transfer payment in promoting the equalization of basic public services by strengthening fund management and standardizing the way of allocation.More importantly,we need to reform performance appraisal standards,adjust incentive models,standardize competition mechanisms,and guide competition to "get better" and other incentive mechanisms,and strive to create an operating environment conducive to promoting the balanced supply of local basic public services with quality and quantity.The research of this paper provide some references for relevant researches and policy implementation of transfer payment and equalization of basic public services.