中国地方政府债务问题研究的现实基础——制度变迁、统计方法与重要事实

Reality Base of Research on China's Local Government Debt——Institutional Transition, Statistical Methods and Key Facts

结合已有文献和笔者调研,本文对改革开放以来我国地方政府债务的制度变迁和统计方法进行了系统分析,以此为基础,借助若干典型案例,重点阐述当前我国地方政府债务存在的七方面重要事实。这些事实包括地方政府债务与土地等国有资产的紧密捆绑、地方政府举债过程中的政府信用金融化、地方政府债务融资来源和资金投向等呈现区域异质性、地方政府债务具有多重资源配置作用(金融整合、基建分工和产业布局)、相关政策实施中遭遇道德风险、地方政府举债冲动与举债恐慌并存、地方政府举债的市场约束逐步增强等。上述发现为学术界开展对地方政府债务问题的深入研究提供了现实基础。

Based on the existing literature and the authors' surveys, this paper systematically analyzes the institutional transition and statistical methods of local government debt (LGD) in China, since the reform and opening up. We then focus on seven key facts of China's LGD, using several typical cases. They include the close binding of LGD with state-owned assets like land, the dependence on government credit financialization, regional heterogeneity, the allocation of multiple resources (financial, infrastructure and industrial resources), moral hazard in policy implementation, the coexistence of borrowing impulses and panic, and increasing market constraints in LGD. This paper provides a reality basis for the academic research community to deepen research on issues about LGD.