IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cuf/wpaper/333.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Transfers-based Decentralization, Local Endowment and Public Employment: A theoretical inquiry and empirical evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Fei Yuan

    (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

  • Ran Tao

    (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

  • Zhigang Xu

    (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

  • Mingxing Liu

    (Peking University)

  • Heng-fu Zou

    (Central University of Finance and Economics
    Wuhan University
    the World Bank)

  • Chunli Shen

    (University of Maryland)

Abstract

Based on the theoretical literature of fiscal decentralization, we discuss the political economy of inter-governmental fiscal arrangements in China and examine how a transfer-based decentralization impacts on local public employment. A theoretical model is built to show that compared to their counterparts in better-endowed localities, local governments in worse-endowed localities that are more heavily dependent on upper level fiscal transfers to finance their spending have higher incentives to increase public employment to build local political support rather than invest in growth-promoting public goods. Using a county-level panel data set from 1994 to 2003, we empirically identify the causality from higher transfer dependency to the expansion of public employment with an instrumental variable approach. It is argued that under a governance regime in which local governments are more accountable to the upper level than to local constituency, transfer-based decentralization, either through general-purpose transfer or through earmarked transfer, would both lead to serious problems. The policy implication is that expenditure decentralization needs to be accompanied by both revenue and political decentralization to achieve better local governance outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Fei Yuan & Ran Tao & Zhigang Xu & Mingxing Liu & Heng-fu Zou & Chunli Shen, 2008. "Transfers-based Decentralization, Local Endowment and Public Employment: A theoretical inquiry and empirical evidence from China," CEMA Working Papers 333, China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:cuf:wpaper:333
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://down.aefweb.net/WorkingPapers/w333.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jin, Hehui & Qian, Yingyi & Weingast, Barry R., 2005. "Regional decentralization and fiscal incentives: Federalism, Chinese style," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1719-1742, September.
    2. Albert Alesina & Stephan Danninger & Massimo Rostagno, 2001. "Redistribution Through Public Employment: The Case of Italy," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 48(3), pages 1-2.
    3. Fisman, Raymond & Gatti, Roberta, 2002. "Decentralization and corruption: evidence across countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 325-345, March.
    4. Keen, Michael & Marchand, Maurice, 1997. "Fiscal competition and the pattern of public spending," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 33-53, October.
    5. International Monetary Fund, 2001. "Fiscal Decentralization and Governance: A Cross-Country Analysis," IMF Working Papers 2001/071, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Park, Albert & Wang, Sangui & Wu, Guobao, 2002. "Regional poverty targeting in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 123-153, October.
    7. Philip Grossman, 1989. "Fiscal decentralization and government size: An extension," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 63-69, July.
    8. Li, Hongbin & Zhou, Li-An, 2005. "Political turnover and economic performance: the incentive role of personnel control in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1743-1762, September.
    9. Antonio Estache, 1995. "Decentralizing Infrastructure: Advantages and Limitations," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/44118, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    10. Zhihua Zhang & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2003. "The System of Equalization Transfers in China," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0312, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    11. World Bank, 2002. "China - National Development and Sub-National Finance : A Review of Provincial Expenditures," World Bank Publications - Reports 15423, The World Bank Group.
    12. Oates, Wallace E. & Schwab, Robert M., 1988. "Economic competition among jurisdictions: efficiency enhancing or distortion inducing?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 333-354, April.
    13. Tsui, Kai-yuen, 2005. "Local tax system, intergovernmental transfers and China's local fiscal disparities," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 173-196, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jia, Junxue & Guo, Qingwang & Zhang, Jing, 2014. "Fiscal decentralization and local expenditure policy in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 107-122.
    2. Tinglin Zhang & Bindong Sun & Yinyin Cai & Rui Wang, 2019. "Government fragmentation and economic growth in China’s cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(9), pages 1850-1864, July.
    3. Liu, Qijun & Song, Lijie, 2022. "Do intergovernmental transfers boost intergenerational income mobility? Evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 293-309.
    4. Zhang, Xiaobo, 2006. "Fiscal decentralization and political centralization in China: Implications for growth and inequality," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 713-726, December.
    5. Tao Qian & Qi Zhang, 2017. "Fiscal Decentralization and Pattern of County Public Expenditures in a Chinese Province," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 18(1), pages 201-226, May.
    6. Ran Tao & Fubing Su & Mingxing Liu & Guangzhong Cao, 2010. "Land Leasing and Local Public Finance in China’s Regional Development: Evidence from Prefecture-level Cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(10), pages 2217-2236, September.
    7. Yongzheng Liu & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Alfred M. Wu, 2017. "Fiscal decentralization, equalization, and intra-provincial inequality in China," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(2), pages 248-281, April.
    8. Andreas Kyriacou & Oriol Roca sagalés, 2009. "Fiscal descentralization and the quality of government: evidence from panel data," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 189(2), pages 131-155, June.
    9. Cao, Chunfang & Li, Xiaoyang & Xia, Changyuan, 2021. "The complicit role of local government authorities in corporate bribery: Evidence from a tax collection reform in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Dongmin Kong & Ling Zhu & Ni Qin, 2022. "Does corruption shape firm centralisation? Evidence from state‐owned enterprises in China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 3365-3395, September.
    11. Li, Lei & Luo, Changtuo, 2023. "Does administrative decentralization promote outward foreign direct investment and productivity? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    12. Tang, Peng & Shi, Xiaoping & Gao, Jinlong & Feng, Shuyi & Qu, Futian, 2019. "Demystifying the key for intoxicating land finance in China: An empirical study through the lens of government expenditure," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 302-309.
    13. Lichtenberg, Erik & Ding, Chengri, 2009. "Local officials as land developers: Urban spatial expansion in China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 57-64, July.
    14. Petra Persson & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2016. "The Limits of Career Concerns in Federalism: Evidence from China," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 338-374.
    15. Reingewertz, Yaniv, 2014. "Fiscal Decentralization - a Survey of the Empirical Literature," MPRA Paper 59889, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Caldeira, Emilie, 2012. "Yardstick competition in a federation: Theory and evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 878-897.
    17. Yongzheng Liu & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Baoyun Qiao, 2014. "Falling Short: Intergovernmental Transfers in China," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1423, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    18. Liu, Dayong & Xu, Chunfa & Yu, Yongze & Rong, Kaijian & Zhang, Junyan, 2020. "Economic growth target, distortion of public expenditure and business cycle in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    19. Andreas P. Kyriacou & Leonel Muinelo-Gallo & Oriol Roca-Sagalés, 2015. "Regional inequalities, fiscal decentralization and government quality: empirical evidence from simultaneous equations," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 1501, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    20. Qiao, Mo & Ding, Siying & Liu, Yongzheng, 2019. "Fiscal decentralization and government size: The role of democracy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 316-330.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cuf:wpaper:333. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Qiang Gao (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/emcufcn.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.