中国地方政府财政支出效率研究：1978-2005

Efficiency of Local Government Financial Expenditure in China:1978-2005

利用DEA非参数技术和受限Tobit模型,核算财政分权改革后中国省级地方政府财政支出的相对效率,结果显示,中国大部分省级政府的支出都不是很有效率的,但比较而言,东中部地区的政府支出效率相对较高且相差不大,西部地区与之相比则低很多。具体来看,20世纪80年代地方财政包干时期,东中部地区的支出效率呈现共同的下降趋势,西部地区变化不大,但在1994年分税制改革之后,地方政府的支出效率总体上得到了显著改善,这主要是由东部和西部地区效率的较大提高所引起,而中部地区支出效率相对于此前几乎没有改善。

This paper uses the nonparametric DEA technique and the censored Tobit model to assess the relative expenditure efficiency of provincial governments since the fiscal decentralization reform in China. It was found that most did not have very efficient financial expenditure; comparatively speaking, however, governments in eastern and central China had more efficient financial expenditure and had similar levels of financial efficiency, while efficiency in the west was far lower. Specifically, in the fiscal devolution of the 1980s, eastern and central China saw a fall in expenditure efficiency, but there was little change in the west. Since the tax distribution reform of 1994, however, the expenditure efficiency of provincial governments as a whole has risen markedly. This is primarily attributable to improvement in the eastern and western regions of China; the central area has shown virtually no improvement on its previous performance.