“省直管县”:改革缘起与制度设计

“Province Governing Counties”:Reform Origin and Institutional Design

"省直管县"改革,是围绕省、市、县三级地方政府的财政、管理等方面,将"市管县"所形成的"省-市-县-乡(镇)"的管理结构,简化为"省-县-乡(镇)"的重大行政体制改革。当前,相关研究多从制度学派的视角审视"省直管县"的起源,即在"分税制""市管县"或城乡二元不平衡等制度缺陷的基础上,解读"省直管县"的改革缘起。中国历代行政区划从来分合靡定,但皆在前代之制度沿革损益,不能因为现有制度的某一方面提出制度替代,而应从更全面的视角上进行理解。对此,兼顾宏观和微观,力求全面分析"省直管县"的制度设计。具体而言,从"稳定的地域性政区"到"流动的城市型社区"、从"社会转型"到"国家转型"、从"中央集权"到"地方自主"是"省直管县"产生的宏观背景。扁平制的管理理论与制度沿革,是"省直管县"改革的理论基础。以县为着力,重塑财政的"委托-代理"关系是制度设计的核心。

"Province Governing Counties"reform is in terms of the financial and management aspects of the local governments at the provincial,municipal,and county levels.Specifically,it means to simplify the "city-administered-county"administrative structure into "provincial-city-county-township (town)"system.Basically,related research is based on the perspective of the institutional defects to examine the origin of the reform.We believe that Chinese administrative divisions have always been divided from the historical evolution.Therefore,the paper analyzes the reform origin and system design of the province directly from macro and micro perspectives.Specifically,from "stable regional districts"to "mobile urban communities",from "social transformation"to "national transformation", from "centralization"to "local autonomy"are the macro backgrounds of the reform.The flat management theory is the theoretical basis of reform.Taking the county as the core,reshaping the fiscal "principal-agent"relationship is essential aspect of design.In addition,the evolution of system also plays an important role in origin of the reform.