试析义务教育财政中立——基于广东省121个县的数据

A Preliminary Analysis of Financial Neutrality in Compulsory Education: Based on Data from 121 Counties in Guangdong Province

通过对2015-2017年广东省121个县生均预算内义务教育事业费差异的分析,发现其差异水平较大且呈上升趋势。利用面板数据检验广东省县级义务教育财政中立程度,发现县际经济发展的差异显著影响着县际生均义务教育事业费的差异,其中初中阶段尤为明显。为了提高广东省义务教育财政中立程度,缩小县际差距,可以从以下几个方面进一步完善:第一,发挥省级统筹体制作用,对粤西18个县加强财政转移支付力度;第二,省级政府应设置更多的义务教育财政激励政策,从而推动县级政府对义务教育做出财政努力的措施,拉动县级政府增加对义务教育的投入。

This paper examines the differences in the compulsory education funding per capita of the 121 counties in Guangdong Province during 2015-2017.The findings reveal huge differences with a rising gap.Using the panel data to test the financial neutrality of county-level compulsory education,this paper identifies that the differences in county-level economic development significantly affect the difference in the per-county compulsory education costs,particularly in the junior secondary education stage.In order to improve the financial neutrality of compulsory education in Guangdong Province and to narrow the inter-county gaps,the government should take the following reforms:improving the provincial-level fundraising mechanisms to enhance the amount of financial transfer payments to 18 counties in western Guangdong;second,reinforcing the provincial-level compulsory education financial incentive measures,so as to promote the county-level government’s financial support to increase its investment on compulsory education.