财政分权能促进中国农村人居环境治理吗?

Can fiscal decentralization promote the rural living environment governance in China?

新时期合理调整中央及地方政府财事权关系,拓宽地方政府财政收入渠道是补齐农村人居环境治理短板,构建长效投资机制的关键。该研究基于中国式财政分权的典型事实,从理论上系统诠释了财政分权、官员晋升激励对农村人居环境治理的内在影响逻辑,并基于时长11年的省际面板数据,选用系统GMM方法实证分析了财政收支分权与自主度、晋升激励对农村人居环境治理的影响效应。研究结果表明:①政府财政收入与支出分权对农村生活垃圾集中处理与卫生厕所普及都存在显著的正向影响作用,且对农村生活垃圾集中处理的影响更大。②官员晋升激励通过影响地方政府的财政支出偏好来正向影响中国农村生活垃圾和污水的集中处理及卫生厕所的有效普及,所有结果都显示在财政收入分权下的影响效应更大。③联合影响方面,交互项对农村生活垃圾、污水的集中处理与卫生厕所的普及的影响系数都显著为正,且稳健性较好,说明二者的联合效应对农村基础设施的建设、居住条件与环境的改善等起到正向的调节作用。认为应在中国式现代化建设进程中进一步完善中央与地方财事权关系,优化中央及地方财力与事权划分格局,扩大地方税收收入规模及占比,增加农村人居环境方面的民生投入;逐步完善政府官员绩效考核机制,强化对民生事业发展的绩效评价,引导官员树立科学的政绩观,为宜居宜业和美乡村建设提供制度性保障。

In the new era,adjusting the financial power relationship between the central and local governments and broadening the financial revenue channels of local governments are key to overcoming the weaknesses of rural living environment governance and building a long-term investment mechanism.Based on the typical facts of Chinese-style fiscal decentralization,this paper theoretically and systematically interpreted the internal impact logic of fiscal decentralization and official promotion incentives on rural living environment governance.Based on the inter-provincial panel data from 2007 to 2017,this study used the system GMM method to analyze the effects of the decentralization and autonomy of fiscal revenue and expenditure and the promotion incentives on rural living environment governance.The results showed that:①Government fiscal revenue and expenditure decentralization had a significant positive effect on the centralized treatment of rural household waste and the popularization of sanitary toilets,and the impact on the centralized treatment of rural household waste was more significant.②The promotion incentives of officials positively affected the centralized treatment of domestic garbage and sewage as well as the effective popularization of sanitary toilets in rural China by influencing the fiscal expenditure preferences of local governments,and all the reasons showed that the effect was greater under fiscal revenue decentralization.③In terms of joint influence,the influence coefficients of the interaction term on the centralized treatment of rural household garbage and sewage as well as the popularization of more sanitary toilets were significantly positive with sound robustness,indicating that the joint effect of the two terms had a positive regulating effect on the construction of rural infrastructure and the improvement of living conditions and the environment.In view of this,the paper argues that in the process of pursuing a Chinese path to modernization,it is necessary to further improve the relationship between central and local financial powers,optimize the distribution pattern of central and local financial powers and financial resources,expand the scale and proportion of local tax revenue,increase the investment in people’s livelihood in rural living environment,gradually improve the performance evaluation mechanism of government officials,and strengthen the performance evaluation of the development of people’s livelihood undertakings.It is also necessary to guide government officials in developing a scientific perspective on political achievements in order to provide an institutional guarantee for the construction of a livable,suitable,and beautiful countryside.