China’s Proactive Fiscal Policy

In contrast to the traditional Western approach to macro-fiscal management,China’s proactive fiscal policy is founded on a people-centered development philosophy and,with distinctive Chinese characteristics,is a significant policy innovation of macroeconomic management in the Chinese modernization.Although there are notable distinctions between the Western“Keynesian”and the“nonKeynesian”schools of thought,both of these approaches’core policy goals and methodological roots are the same,composing the traditional Western macro-fiscal approach.This approach faces increasing real dilemmas.China’s proactive fiscal policy,however,places greater emphasis on future potential growth rates in addition to equilibrium between supply and demand,achieving a fiscal policy transformation with a new approach.In this paper we argue that with such a new approach,China should reconsider the nature and reasonable level of the fiscal deficit,the function and risk assessment criteria of government debt,the scope and effects of reductions in taxes and fees,its approach and focus of demand management,and the costs and resulting efficiencies of policies in order to develop a new fiscal policy paradigm that is more in line with its stated goals.

Characteristics of China＇s Development in the New Era Explained in Light of Economic Principles

As China entered into a new era of development, the primary contradiction facing Chinese society has also evolved. It is important for both scholars and policymakers to review the characteristics of China's economy in its present stage in accordance with economic principles-principles that reflect every aspect of economic and social life and macroeconomic regulation. In this paper, we attempt to unravel the characteristics of China's new era from three perspectives-historical materialism, dialectic materialism and epistemology, and in light of economic principles at the three levels of resource factors, modes of production and regulation of resource allocation. Based on these perspectives, this paper further identifies the characteristics of China's new era from nine aspects, including globalization, modernization, the primary stage of socialism, new development concepts, supply-side reforms, the guideline of seeking steady progress, the mentality of scope, bottomline mindset and strategic composure. From the three different levels, this paper summarizes and applies economic principles to propose solutions to the problems and challenges facing China in the new era. The findings of the paper are also relevant to implementation of the guidelines CPC Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping noted in his report to the 19 th CPC National Congress.

Proactive Fiscal Policy:The New Logic of China's Practice

China’s proactive fiscal policy adheres to the development ideology centered around the people and differs from the traditional Western logic of macro-fiscal policy.It bears distinct Chinese characteristics and represents a significant macroeconomic governance policy innovation in China’s process of modernization.Despite the considerable differences between the perspectives of the Keynesian tradition and the non-Keynesian tradition,their policy objectives and methodological foundations are broadly similar,constituting the traditional Western logic of macro-fiscal policy.Currently,this logic is facing increasing practical challenges.In contrast,China’s proactive fiscal policy not only aims to restore supply-demand balance and potential growth levels but also emphasizes enhancing future potential growth rates,marking a transformation from the traditional Western logic to a new logic.It is essential to emphasize that under this new logic,forming a new fiscal policy paradigm requires a reevaluation of the nature and appropriate scale of fiscal deficits,the role and risk measurement standards of government debt,the space and effectiveness of reduction of taxes and administrative fees,demand management methods and priorities,as well as policy costs and efficiency,among other fundamental categories.

Premature Boarding and Human Capital Accumulation for Rural Pupils: Evidence from School Consolidations

From 2001 to 2012,many local governments in China closed down village teaching sites for primary school students in the first and second grades,consolidating them into larger township schools more distant from village students’homes.School closure and consolidation are particularly striking in China’s central and western regions,where swathes of rural labor migrated to cities for jobs.As a result,numerous primary school pupils are forced to study at boarding schools in the first and second grades,which is considered as too early for pupils to live without parental care.This paper employs survey data from 137 township schools with boarding qualifications collected by a project team consisting of researchers from the China Institute for Educational Finance Research(CIEFR)of Peking University,the Institute of Population and Labor Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(IPLE-CASS)and the Capital University of Economics and Business(CUEB).By matching the home-school distance with village teaching site information as the proxy variable for the school consolidation policy,this paper evaluates the policy's impact on the likelyhood of premature boarding for primary school pupils,as well as the impact on their human capital accumulation.Our study finds that the creation of teaching sites makes it less likely for primary school pupils to board at school.Premature boarding impedes children’s human capital accumulation,and the harmful effect is particularly striking for children lacking pastoral teachers,raised by grandparents and from families above average income levels,as well as girls.

General Characteristics of the Proactive Fiscal Policy in 2022

China’s economic development faces the triple pressures of demand contraction,supply shocks,and weakening expectations.On March 5,2022,at the Fifth Session of the 13th National People’s Congress,Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council put forth in the Report on the Work of the Government the goals of China's social and economic development in 2022,setting the tone and fundamentals for the fiscal policy of the year.

Mandatory information disclosure and innovation:Evidence from the disclosure of operational information

We use a quasi-natural experiment wherein the Shanghai Stock Exchange requires listed companies in certain industries to disclose operational information and a staggered difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of mandatory information disclosure on corporate innovation.We find that companies subject to mandatory operational information disclosure show significantly increased innovation.This effect is pronounced for companies classified as non-state-owned enterprises,facing severe financing constraints and a high degree of shareholder tunneling behavior and in competitive and high-tech industries.Although mandatory operational information disclosure reduces their competitive advantage,companies appear to compensate by increasing innovation.Our study highlights the positive impact of mandatory operational information disclosure,indicating that it contributes to the highquality development of both capital markets and companies.

Mobile Payment Should Be Part of BRICS Cooperation

Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future was the theme of the 2017 BRICS Summit held in Xiamen on September 3-5. As important participants in efforts to strengthen partnership between BRICS countries, Chinese enterprises will not only bring capital, products and infrastructure to BRICS countries, but also provide them with technology, services and train local professionals. Based on the respect of local cultures, Chinese enterprises will work to- gether with local companies to boost economic development throughout BRICS countries.

Policy Innovation Diffusion and PPP Spatial Distribution

Since 2014,PPP policy has been promoted rapidly in China.Based on the theory of policy innovation diffusion,this paper explores the formation mechanism of PPP spatial disequilibrium at the micro level using Chinese municipal-level panel data from 2014 to 2019.According to the research,the innovation diffusion of China’s PPP policy at the local-government level exhibits R-shaped non-progressive characteristics and is influenced by both internal and external factors.On the internal side,the debt pressure of local governments is an important determinant with an inverted U-shaped influence on PPP policy.On the external side,imitation and competition among neighboring local governments are the main external determinants.This spatial strategic interaction occurs not only in same-province regions with close proximity and similar economic development but also in different-province regions with close proximity.The above studies offer certain insights into optimizing the spatial distribution pattern of PPP and guarding against fiscal risks.