This study examines the evolution of fiscal relations between the central state and local governments in China since the founding of the People's Republic The emphasis is placed on the changing arrangement for t...This study examines the evolution of fiscal relations between the central state and local governments in China since the founding of the People's Republic The emphasis is placed on the changing arrangement for the central state's collection of taxes and allocation of capital among provinces The central local relation has experienced constant reorganization since 1949, but the tax division scheme introduced in the early 1990s represents the most significant change Prior to the 1990s, the central local fiscal relation was shaped by a highly centralized administrative and economic system without rational and scientific design for revenue collection and expenditure The financial responsibility system established after the reforms contributed to regional economic development during the first decade of reforms, but it was a temporary and transitional arrangement that does not meet the requirement of rational resources arrangement according to free market forces The implementation of the tax division scheme has stopped the decline of the ratio of fiscal revenue to gross domestic product, raised the percentage of central revenue in total national income, and strengthened the central function for macro economic control The mechanism for tax refund under the tax division scheme required further improvements Several proposals are made in this study: 1) tax classification should be adjusted according to administration; 2) a scientific and standardized system for regional transfer payment should be developed; and 3) the power for tax legislation should be delineated according to the rational division of administration between the central and local government展开更多
The challenge of making central requirements work at local levels is a common problem for environmental governance throughout the world.Countries can learn from one another’s approaches,but must understand the local ...The challenge of making central requirements work at local levels is a common problem for environmental governance throughout the world.Countries can learn from one another’s approaches,but must understand the local con-text in which they are set.This paper compares the features of the China and US environmental governance systems that need be understood by those working between the systems.Key features include:(1)common values which shape the environmental governance choices in both countries,but which may have different practical meanings in each country;(2)America’s common law-based environmental governance system,and China’s civil law system,which involves plan(s)as well as law;(3)America’s Federal central-local system,and China’s unitary central local system.This paper con-cludes by suggesting areas in which further comparative understanding may be of value,including:(1)better under-standing of the role of plan and law in China’s governance system;(2)comparing the American Federal-state agreement system for implementation of environmental law with the China central-local system of target responsibility agreements for plan implementation;(3)improving understanding of nongovernmental resources needed to assure compliance with environmental laws and plans;(4)identifying institutions that can coordinate central-local and cross-border environmental governance.展开更多
This article investigates China's central-local dynamics in the process of adjusting regulatory discrepancies among different levels of government from both legal and political perspectives.It finds that in China...This article investigates China's central-local dynamics in the process of adjusting regulatory discrepancies among different levels of government from both legal and political perspectives.It finds that in China’s central-local interactions,legal practices have been rather limited and only developed lately,and political practices have long been in place to fill the blank left by legal practices and accommodate China's growing rule of law in the contemporary era.Regarding legal practices,this study explores the legislative review interactions between the central and local state organs which have been opaque and experience a leap forward from 2017 with China's advancement of the rule of law.As for political practices,this study focuses on two types of interactions between the central and local governments,top-down campaigns and bottom-up bargaining.Campaigns and bargaining have a long history in China’s central-local dynamics and intertwine with China’s contemporary legal development in policy-making and implementation processes.Drawing on data collected from China's practical governance,this article attempts to provide a roadmap in the explanation of the patterns of central-local dynamics from a multi-disciplinary angle and contributes to a comprehensive understanding of China5s central-local dynamics that smooth central-local tensions and drive China forward along the economic development path as a monolith.展开更多
文摘This study examines the evolution of fiscal relations between the central state and local governments in China since the founding of the People's Republic The emphasis is placed on the changing arrangement for the central state's collection of taxes and allocation of capital among provinces The central local relation has experienced constant reorganization since 1949, but the tax division scheme introduced in the early 1990s represents the most significant change Prior to the 1990s, the central local fiscal relation was shaped by a highly centralized administrative and economic system without rational and scientific design for revenue collection and expenditure The financial responsibility system established after the reforms contributed to regional economic development during the first decade of reforms, but it was a temporary and transitional arrangement that does not meet the requirement of rational resources arrangement according to free market forces The implementation of the tax division scheme has stopped the decline of the ratio of fiscal revenue to gross domestic product, raised the percentage of central revenue in total national income, and strengthened the central function for macro economic control The mechanism for tax refund under the tax division scheme required further improvements Several proposals are made in this study: 1) tax classification should be adjusted according to administration; 2) a scientific and standardized system for regional transfer payment should be developed; and 3) the power for tax legislation should be delineated according to the rational division of administration between the central and local government
基金This work was supported by the Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance,Tsinghua University,Beijing,China.
文摘The challenge of making central requirements work at local levels is a common problem for environmental governance throughout the world.Countries can learn from one another’s approaches,but must understand the local con-text in which they are set.This paper compares the features of the China and US environmental governance systems that need be understood by those working between the systems.Key features include:(1)common values which shape the environmental governance choices in both countries,but which may have different practical meanings in each country;(2)America’s common law-based environmental governance system,and China’s civil law system,which involves plan(s)as well as law;(3)America’s Federal central-local system,and China’s unitary central local system.This paper con-cludes by suggesting areas in which further comparative understanding may be of value,including:(1)better under-standing of the role of plan and law in China’s governance system;(2)comparing the American Federal-state agreement system for implementation of environmental law with the China central-local system of target responsibility agreements for plan implementation;(3)improving understanding of nongovernmental resources needed to assure compliance with environmental laws and plans;(4)identifying institutions that can coordinate central-local and cross-border environmental governance.
文摘This article investigates China's central-local dynamics in the process of adjusting regulatory discrepancies among different levels of government from both legal and political perspectives.It finds that in China’s central-local interactions,legal practices have been rather limited and only developed lately,and political practices have long been in place to fill the blank left by legal practices and accommodate China's growing rule of law in the contemporary era.Regarding legal practices,this study explores the legislative review interactions between the central and local state organs which have been opaque and experience a leap forward from 2017 with China's advancement of the rule of law.As for political practices,this study focuses on two types of interactions between the central and local governments,top-down campaigns and bottom-up bargaining.Campaigns and bargaining have a long history in China’s central-local dynamics and intertwine with China’s contemporary legal development in policy-making and implementation processes.Drawing on data collected from China's practical governance,this article attempts to provide a roadmap in the explanation of the patterns of central-local dynamics from a multi-disciplinary angle and contributes to a comprehensive understanding of China5s central-local dynamics that smooth central-local tensions and drive China forward along the economic development path as a monolith.
