Revisiting the nexus between fiscal decentralization and CO_(2)emissions in South Africa:fresh policy insights

The argument over fiscal decentralization and carbon dioxide emission(CO_(2))reduction has received much attention.However,evidence to back this claim is limited.Economic theory predicts that fiscal decentralization affects environmental quality,but the specifics of this relationship are still up for debate.Some scholars noted that fiscal decentralization might lead to a race to the top,whereas others contended that it would result in a race to the bottom.In light of the current debates in environmental and development economics,this study aims to provide insight into how this relationship may function in South Africa from 1960 to 2020.In contrast to the existing research,the present study uses a novel dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulation approach to assess the positive and negative changes in fiscal decentralization,scale effect,technique effect,technological innovation,foreign direct investment,energy consumption,industrial growth,and trade openness on CO_(2)emissions.The following are the main findings:(i)Fiscal decentralization had a CO_(2)emission reduction impact in the short and long run,highlighting the presence of the race to the top approach.(ii)Economic growth(as represented by the scale effect)eroded ecological integrity.However,its square(as expressed by technique effect)aided in strengthening ecological protection,validating the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis.(iii)CO_(2)emissions were driven by energy utilization,trade openness,industrial value-added,and foreign direct investment,whereas technological innovation boosted ecological integrity.Findings suggest that further fiscal decentralization should be undertaken through further devolution of power to local entities,particularly regarding environmental policy issues,to maintain South Africa’s ecological sustainability.South Africa should also establish policies to improve environmental sustainability by strengthening a lower layer of government and clarifying responsibilities at the national and local levels to fulfill the energy-saving functions of fiscal expenditures.

Interprovincial Effects of Fiscal Decentralization on Financial Decentralization in China

By motivating local governments to fght for financial resources, China＇s tax sharing reform has affected the structure of financial decentralization and inflated local financial systems, thus spawning regional financial risks. Based on theoretical analysis and empirical evidence, this paper has arrived at the following findings： due to different policy objectives, central and local governments exhibit different fiscal and financial behaviors; public finance and financial sector have become financing instruments with certain convertibility under local economic growth framework,＂ fiscal decentralization inevitably affects financial decentralization and lays the foundation for provincial fiscal disparities, resulting in a certain spatial effect of interprovincial fiscal variable; fnancial explicit centralization/implicit decentralization and fiscal centralization have fueled local competition for financial resources and resulted in correlation between the spatial effects of provincial financial and fiscal variables, and moreover, their mismatch has also spawned fiscal and financial risks on various fronts. Hence, setting clear boundaries of financial centralization and decentralization and ensuring local government fiscal accountability is the key to the prevention and mitigation of fiscal and financial risks in China.

Fiscal Decentralization,Financial Decentralization and Macroeconomic Governance

Improvement of the macroeconomic governance system as an important part of the national governance system is a key initiative to address major economic problems in the new era.The coordination and economic regulatory effects of fiscal and monetary policies are subject to the arrangements of fiscal and financial decentralization systems.Analysis revealed a mismatch between China’s fiscal income decentralization and fiscal spending decentralization,as manifested in the clear decentralization of fiscal revenue and vague decentralization of fiscal spending;in pursuing local economic stability,local governments seek other sources of revenue and compete for financial resources,as manifested in apparent financial centralization and implicit financial decentralization,causing financial decentralization to be inconsistent between various levels of government and between government and the market.The above-mentioned problems are reflected in mutual conversion between public finance and financial intermediation as two financial allocation methods and mutual transmission between fiscal and financial risks,making the case for enhancing coordination between fiscal and monetary policies.In creating a scientific macroeconomic governance system,therefore,we must establish clear local government responsibilities,reduce the proportion of local fiscal spending,clarify the orientations and relief boundary of fiscal and monetary policies,moderately decentralize financial powers,and give better play to the role of local governments in improving the quality of economic development and controlling major risks.

CHINA'S REGIONAL DISPARITY IN 1981-2000:OPENNESS AND DEVELOPMENT OF NON-STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES AND FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION

While China's economic growth has been impressive since 1978, regional disparity in terms of provincial per capita GDP has been increasing. On the other hand, this rapid but uneven growth was accompanied by China's deepening openness and structural reforms including the development of non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) and fiscal decentralization. Based on quantitative analyses, this paper tries to explore the features of regional disparity in China and the relationships between regional growth and China's openness and economic structure reforms in the period from 1981 to 2000. The paper finds that the catching-up of the coastal region to the initially rich provinces, which are mainly located in inland areas, brought about a convergence of the growth pattern across provinces in the 1980s.The subsequent divergence in the provincial growth rates between the coast and the interior generated an enlarging regional disparity in China in the 1990s. The ever-faster growth in the coastal region was benefited by China's openness and the development of non-state-owned enterprises. The development of non-state-owned enterprises underlies the higher operational efficiency in the coastal region. Additionally, with the insignificant regression results, fiscal decentralization was observed to facilitate faster growth in the coast region. The findings justify the initiative of the 'West Region Development Strategy' and offer some policy implications for China.

A CASE STUDY ON CONCENTRATION AND DECENTRALIZATION:BEHAVIOR AND DYN AMIC MECHANISM OF SPATIAL EVOLUTION IN METROPOLITAN AREA,NANJING,CHINA

In rapid socio-economic developme nt,the process of concentration and dispersal of various elements tends to be more dramatic,tremendously in fluencing the shaping and transform ation of the space in metropolitan area.Survey of spatial concentration and decent ralization has thus become a basic me thod in examining metropolitan spatial evolution.In this research,three elements were selected as the essential indicato rs of the process:demographic density distribu-tion,employment density distribut ion and business office location.Performance of these elements in Nanji ng City was exam-ined historically.As Nanjing City c ould be regarded as a representative of metropolitan areas in China,its s ituation large-ly suggestes the general characteristics in similar areas of China.Hence based on the investigation of Nanji ng City,four general implications were highligh ted.First,metropolitan areas inChina are in a violentprocess and shift of spatialconcentra-tion and decentralization.Second,from now to at least the near future,c oncentration will continue to be the central fea-ture.Third,the landscape of metrop olitan areas basically exhibits a dual structure character.The gap in en vironmental and ecological qualities among different districts will continue for a l ong time.Fourth,Central Business District(CBD)is playing an important role in helpi ng to convert the traditionally single-centered city structure into a polycentric one.

Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Awash National Park, Ethiopia: Impact of Decentralization on the Use and Management of Resources

We analyzed the magnitude of land use land cover changes and identified drivers of those changes at Awash National Park, Ethiopia, using aerial photographs, satellite images and field observation. Scattered bushland—the most important habitat for the wild animals, declined drastically. Areas under grassland, farmland or open land increased over the study period. Policy and park border demarcation issues were identified as drivers of change before 1995 (before decentralization), whereas livestock grazing was indicated to be the leading driver of change after 1995. Major events and causes that largely explained these changes include immigration of the Ittu community, land tenure system, drought, poaching, use policy issues and regional economic and infrastructural development. Our study reveals that the sustainability of the park calls for an immediate action to reduce the ever increasing human and livestock pressure on park resources.

Decentralization,spatial disequilibrium,and restructuring of coastal tourist destination-Empirical research from Sanya,China

The objective of this article is to speculate on resort restructuring in the market-oriented reform process in China.Previous studies show that spatial disequilibrium was aggravated by decentralization,which leads to the difference in tourism policy and investment,public goods,and service;a profound analytical framework is much needed for further empirical studies.This article has reviewed the relevant studies on links between decentralization and restructuring,spatial influences of decentralization on tourism,based on which we put forward the theoretical framework of resort spatial restructuring from the view of political economy analysis,then we elaborate on and discuss it based on the example of Sanya,China.In short,the article suggests that decentralization of fiscal responsibilities and institutional power contributes to the spatial disequilibrium of tourism industrial structure,land use,public infrastructure and service facilities,and to community inequality.Interests of government,investors,and community should be comprehensively coordinated in the resort spatial restructuring process from three aspects:restructuring government,optimizing space structure,and tourism industry.Furthermore,we argue that resort restructuring in the context of Sanya requires coordination of various interest groups through four ways:restructure the government power under administrative division adjustment,optimizing spatial structure,expanding industrial space to diversified tourism products,and building resort management services organization.Finally,we discussed some policy requirements for resort sustainable development.

China's Development Modeli:the Costs and Benefits of the Decentralization Approach to Transition

This article provides a coherent framework within which to understand China’s development model,as well as the successes and the failures of China’s decentralization approach to reform.The combination of political centralization and economic decentralization provide local government with enough incentives to develop local economies,in particular incentives to promote market privatisation locally.However,the relative evaluation-based incentive schemes lead to inter- regional market segmentation,increasing inter-regional development gaps and the unequal provision of certain public goods.The success of early-stage reform can be attributed to the benefits of the decentralization approach.The next stage reform should however focus on minimizing the associated costs.China’s gradualist reform can be seen as a mechanism design issue under the control of central government.Therefore,it is essential to take both the costs and benefits of the decentralization approach into account in the design of the next-stage reform package.

Foreign direct investment and environmental pollution:A fiscal decentralization perspective

Based on the panel data of 272 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2017,this study used the comprehensive index of environmental pollution to measure local environmental pollution,and employed the panel simultaneous equation to analyze the relationship between fiscal decentralization,foreign direct investment,and environmental pollution.The results showed that environmental pollution has the characteristics of time inertia and positive spatial spillover;fiscal decentralization and local government competition have a significant“race to bottom”effect on environmental pollution;and with the increase of fiscal decentralization,environmental quality will deteriorate.In the interaction between foreign direct investment and environmental pollution under the system of fiscal decentralization,foreign direct investment aggravates environmental pollution.Meanwhile,if the environmental pollution in a given region is serious,the willingness of foreign investors to invest therein is lessened to a certain extent.Based on the conditions in China,certain policy suggestions are put forward to increase environmental quality,such as building a comprehensive performance assessment mechanism that includes environmental quality,optimizing the decentralization system,and raising the threshold of foreign investment access.

Optimizing Decentralization of Management andExploitation of Irrigation Works in Quan Lo-Phung HiepRegion, Mekong River Delta

In Vietnam as well as many countries which apply the irrigated agriculture over the world, the process of promoting thesocialization trend in irrigation for the basic irrigation organizations, of which the main factor is water users, is very important. Thispaper aimed to optimize the decentralization of management and exploitation of irrigation works for water users, organizations inQuan Lo-Phung Hiep irrigation system of Mekong River Delta. The research has implemented a survey on 384 water users alongfour canals of level 2 of Quan Lo-Phung Hiep irrigation system under two sets of index： （1） water users＇ perception assessment of theirrigation works （14 indicators） and （2） assessment of the management efficiency in the irrigation works （six indicators）. Theresearch proposes the decentralization process from building, After determining the correlation coefficients, the multi-objective linearregression equation will be shown on six single objective functions. With the aim at achieving the highest efficiency in themanagement and exploitation of the irrigation works, there should be a shift in terms of the water users＇ perception of the irrigationworks. These study results also demonstrate that about 65%-68% of the change in the indicators of the exploitation efficiency in theirrigation works is explained by some water users＇ perception indexes of irrigation works, including the quality of irrigation service andthe output efficiency in agricultural production. By using the algorithm for multi-objective optimization problem, the optimal results inperception are determined. The input data is generated for the matrix supporting the decision making, and the decentralization ofmanagement and exploitation of irrigation works meets the three criteria, i.e., effectiveness, sustainability and flexibility.

County-Level Tax Sharing:A Statistical Basis for Measuring China's Fiscal Decentralization

Controversies exist in literature regarding what indicators should be employed to measure China's fiscal decentralization. This paper measures China's fiscal decentralization by the sharing ratios of county-level VAT and corporate income tax(CIT). This approach avoids such problems as homogeneous denominator, and reflects the intricate interactions between governments at different levels. Based on extensive sources including the National Fiscal Statistical Information at Prefecture and County Levels and China County(City) Socio-Economic Statistical Yearbook over the 1998-2007 period, our estimation and analysis led to the following findings:(1) Since 2002, counties have retained a falling share of revenues;(2) a multidimensional horizontal comparison reveals a pattern in the county-level tax sharing ratio, i.e. counties in central and eastern regions retain a higher share of tax revenues compared with those in western and northwestern regions.These findings explain the fiscal difficulties at the grassroots level, and can be used to conduct a quantitative analysis of the determinants and economic effects of China's fiscal decentralization."

Diversity and Decentralization in the Democratization Process in Spain

This paper will deal with the history of an important political change in Spain during the transition to democracy between 1976 and 1982： the transformation of a unitary and centralized state to one composed of several political units capable of self-government. The starting point of that process was the confirmation of regional diversity and of the existence of clearly differentiated political sensibilities in some of its territories. The researchers shall rely especially on the legacy of some of the principal actors, and explore the connection between such diversity and the political change that took place.

The Challenge of Implementing Decentralization in Kenya： An Analysis of the Teething Problems Rocking the Implementation

Kenya promulgated her new constitution in 2010 and since then, there have been various political wrangles about its implementation. These wrangles started when the government drafted laws that sought to retain the Provincial Administration, which was meant to operate parallel to the structures under county governments. The opposition accused the government of undermining devolution and even of attempting to kill it. At the county level, there have been boycotts of sessions by County Assembly Members over salaries, and Governors continue to complain about inadequate financial resources to fulfill their mandates. This paper examines these wrangles to determine whether they are just teething problems or serious implementation problems needing redress. The analysis involves comparing Kenya＇s implementation to that of other African and Latin American countries that implemented their devolution earlier.

Local Government Behavior behind China's Excessive Investment under Decentralization——Theoretical and Empirical Analysis Based on Manufacturing Sector

This paper investigates the effect of local government intervention on capital deepening of manufacturing sector by using interprovincial panel data sets of 28 Chinese provinces,municipalities and autonomous regions between 1994 and 2011.Theoretical research indicates that as a transitional economy,China's local government intervention in corporate investment behaviors will cause excessive investment,thus bringing about a long-term and sustained tendency of capital deepening in manufacturing sector.Empirical test further discovers that in a certain range,the phenomenon of capital deepening in manufacturing sector is not an inevitable result endogenous to economic development and technology progress,and that investment behaviors of manufacturing sector are largely subject to the external institutional environment.Fiscal decentralization has indeed promoted capital deepening of manufacturing sector.Financial credit expansion and interventions in SOEs are major instruments for local governments to intervene in the capital deepening of manufacturing sector and such an influence is particularly significant for China's central,western and northeast regions.Therefore,clarifying government functions and improving local government performance review mechanism are of great significance to the healthy development of China's manufacturing sector.

Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth in China: A Meta-Regression Analysis

In order to test whether the major empirical results on the ＂relationship between fiscal decentralization and economic growth in China＂ are affected by study characteristics, this paper conducts a meta-analysis of the major existing empirical literature. Our analysis indicates that some empirical results on how China＇s jqscal decentralization affects economic growth are subject to different study characteristics. In particular, empirical results that fiscal decentralization has ＂significant positive effect＂ on economic growth are subject to such study characteristics as ＂region, labor and capital growth rate, other reforms and intra-budget capital.＂ Through the funnel plot asymmetry test, the problem of publication bias is found to exist in the sampled literature and is concentrated in spending decentralization.

Effect of Acute Volume Loading on LV Function after Acute Cardiac Decentralization in Anesthetized Canines

The present study investigated the role of cardiac nerves on homeometric autoregulation in anesthetized dogs during acute volume loading. Ventricular pressure-volume loops (conductance catheter method) were constructed during acute volume loading with intact cardiac nerves (ICN) and after cardiac decentralization (DCN;bilateral ablation of thoracic vagosympathetic complexes, stellate ganglia and anterior and posterior ansae subclavia). Arterial pressure increased as expected after volume loading but no significant changes were observed for heart rate and other hemodynamic parameters. Coronary sinus venous oxygen content was also higher regardless of nerve status in response to the overall increase in cardiac work. Pressure-volume catheter data showed markedly higher end-systolic volumes after volume loading under ICN and DCN conditions;stroke volume (mL/beat) and stroke work (mL/mm Hg) were not changed but LV ejection fraction was significantly lower. End-diastolic volume and cardiac output did not change. In addition, systemic vascular resistance and tau were higher with volume loading but no differences between ICN and DCN were observed. These findings show that acute volume loading produces an immediate influence on LV function independent of cardiac nerve status.

A Study of the Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on the Efficiency of Public Health Expenditure

In this present-day global pandemic that has not been completely resolved,health is a major concern among people,and correspondingly,people are demanding higher standards for public health products and services provided by the government.In this paper,we measure the technical efficiency of public health expenditure in each province by using the data envelopment analysis(DEA)model,and examine the impact of decentralization on the efficiency of public health expenditure under the fiscal decentralization system using the panel data from 31 provinces from 2012-2019 in a panel model subject to fixed effects.

Decentralization, Supervision, and Chinese Local Government Debt

Decentralization can alter the incentive structure of local governments and one outcome of this is debt accumulation. Based on the “Province-Managing-County” pilot policy, a fiscal decentralization reform devolving fiscal power from the prefecture-level city to the county level, we assess the impact of fiscal decentralization on local government debt using a difference-in-differences model with a unique county-level dataset from 2011 to 2019. According to the study findings, the “Province-Managing-County” reform resulted in an average increase of 5.758 percent in the local government debt ratio across the pilot counties. Mechanism analyses suggest that this may have arisen from changes in the incentive structure, including external pressures from government assessments and internal developmental needs for promotion, leading to a rise in expenditure pressures on local governments. The role of supervision in mitigating the impact of fiscal decentralization on debt growth was also demonstrated, indicating that an appropriate supervision mechanism must be in place in conjunction with a decentralization policy.

Mainstreaming Decentralization and Collaboration in Disaster Risk Management:Insights from Coastal Bangladesh

Bangladesh is renowned in disaster risk reduction(DRR)for active involvement of community people and local disaster management institutions in DRR activities.Our study aimed to describe the disaster risk management(DRM)institutions and assess their functioning in six coastal unions across the three coastal zones of Bangladesh.Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used.The study focused on two key local institutions—the Union Disaster Management Committees(UDMCs)and the Cyclone Preparedness Program(CPP)—functioning at the union level in DRM.Such institutions have both horizontal and vertical collaborations with other institutions.However,we argue that the UDMCs'external dependencies in their functioning indicate their limited financial and administrative autonomy,which is a barrier to successfully institutionalizing disaster management.The results show that the CPP is the most successful program,markedly increasing the trust of the people in warning dissemination and evacuation efforts in the event of a cyclone.Although the adoption of decentralized risk management systems has resulted in significant progress in increased rate of evacuation and reduced death rate and damage,lack of funding and equipment,limited coordination between institutions,lack of skilled and knowledgeable workforce,and inappropriate power structures may reduce the effectiveness of DRR activities prior to,during,and following disasters.

On Designs of Decentralized Reputation Management for Permissioned Blockchain Networks

In permissioned blockchain networks,the Proof of Authority(PoA)consensus,which uses the election of authorized nodes to validate transactions and blocks,has beenwidely advocated thanks to its high transaction throughput and fault tolerance.However,PoA suffers from the drawback of centralization dominated by a limited number of authorized nodes and the lack of anonymity due to the round-robin block proposal mechanism.As a result,traditional PoA is vulnerable to a single point of failure that compromises the security of the blockchain network.To address these issues,we propose a novel decentralized reputation management mechanism for permissioned blockchain networks to enhance security,promote liveness,and mitigate centralization while retaining the same throughput as traditional PoA.This paper aims to design an off-chain reputation evaluation and an on-chain reputation-aided consensus.First,we evaluate the nodes’reputation in the context of the blockchain networks and make the reputation globally verifiable through smart contracts.Second,building upon traditional PoA,we propose a reputation-aided PoA(rPoA)consensus to enhance securitywithout sacrificing throughput.In particular,rPoA can incentivize nodes to autonomously form committees based on reputation authority,which prevents block generation from being tracked through the randomness of reputation variation.Moreover,we develop a reputation-aided fork-choice rule for rPoA to promote the network’s liveness.Finally,experimental results show that the proposed rPoA achieves higher security performance while retaining transaction throughput compared to traditional PoA.