Expenditure Decentralization and Citizen Satisfaction with Healthcare: Evidence from Urban China

There has been considerable debate whether fiscal decentralization improves the provision of public goods. Based on individual-level data from a nationally representative survey and county-level data from national compendiums of financial statistics and demographic statistics, this study analyzes the effect of expenditure decentralization on citizen satisfaction with public healthcare in urban China. The results indicate a significantly positive effect of expenditure decentralization on citizen satisfaction with public healthcare. We also find evidence that the impact of decentralization is associated with residency status. Further investigation highlights the importance of local economic development in realizing the potential gains from a decentralized system. This study suggests that decision-making at lower levels of government is more responsive to local needs and that the efficiency gains of decentralization are not necessarily accompanied by equitable distribution of welfare.

     

社会保障支出、经济增长与居民消费的区域差异研究

基于扩展的杜森贝利消费函数,以区域差异的视角对东、中、西部地区1997～2009年的社会保障、经济增长与居民消费之间的长短期效应进行实证研究。结果显示,我国社会保障支出、经济增长与居民消费存在长期的协整关系,居民消费水平与社会保障支出呈显著正相关,西部地区社会保障支出对居民消费的拉动作用最大,中部次之,东部最小。其政策含义是:应加大中西部地区在社会保障领域的支持力度,促进地区间公共服务均等化,降低人们的不确定性预期,实现居民消费的稳定性和经济健康发展。     

流动人口对县级政府基础教育支出影响研究--基于2009～2014年江苏省44个县市数据

本文使用了2009～2014年江苏省44个县市的数据①，利用面板数据进行回归分析，证明了地方教育财政支出会受到流动人口、地方经济发展等因素影响；人口流动会对人口流入地县市产生教育资源挤占效应，地方政府基础教育财政支出可能存在自利性动机，为了实现本地利益最大化，会对流动人口子女在本地入学设置相关门槛；这些发现表明，我们在发展地方经济、加大转移支付及实现义务教育经费随学籍走制度的同时，需要对产生问题的根源户籍制度进行改革，接纳农民工子女进入本地公立学校，才能实现中央“两为主”政策的教育公平目标。     

资本类型与新生代农村劳动力非农就业--来自江苏的证据

利用江苏地区农户调研资料，归纳总结新生代农村劳动力的非农就业行为及主要特征，并利用结构方程模型进一步剖析资本类型对非农就业行为的影响机制和作用路径。研究结果表明，以职业规划能力和受教育程度为主的个体资本正向影响新生代农村劳动力非农就业行为，但作用程度低于其它资本。其它资本中以社会资源衡量的社会资本对非农就业行为影响尤其显著。资本类型对非农就业区域的影响远高于非农就业行业。基于上述研究结论，文章最后提出提升群体受教育水平和职业规划能力、构建多维度非农就业权益保障机制与公共就业服务体系、优化产业区域布局与发挥城市集聚效应的政策建议。     

Which are the Factors Influencing Innovation Performances? Evidence from Italian Cohesion Policy

Our paper aims at evaluating the role that the local administrations play on Italian regional innovation performance, by using a revised version of Regional Innovation Scoreboard. Carrying out a panel data analysis and a logistic regression, the analysis is based on a combined approach towards institutions, involving socio-political aspects, considered by the institutional quality index, and the capability of regional administrators of expending Structural and Cohesion Funds, by a quantitative index. Firstly, a panel data analysis helped us to highlight the role of institutions and which sectoral themes of EU investments affected the most regional innovative performances in the time span 2007-2015. Secondly, the logistic regression captures which investment is more likely to affect innovation performances within Italian Regions. The results underline that major effect on innovation performance derive from the combined effect of high quality institutions and efficient public expenditure.

     

Regional Differences in the Gender Wage Gap in Spain

This study examines regional differences in the gender wage gap in Spain using matched employer–employee microdata, two different econometric decomposition methods and panel data techniques. Our findings suggest that Spain shows a significant regional heterogeneity in the size of the raw gap, roughly comparable to cross-country differences observed in the European context. The results from the decomposition analysis show that although the bulk of the gender wage gap in Spanish regions is due to differences in the endowments of productive characteristics between males and females there is still a substantial part of the gap that remains unexplained. The analysis of the causes behind the variation of both, the raw and the unexplained gender wage gap by region highlights that several economic, institutional and demographic elements identified in previous studies analysing international differences in the gender wage gap are also relevant to explain regional differences in the gender wage gap in Spain.     

Decentralizing population education research

Population education research will now be conducted at the regional, division, and local levels. It is expected that this decentralization will solve problems faced by population education teachers and supervisors in the field and help to formulate curricula suitable to local needs. It will also mean changes in the implementation of the research activities of the Department of Education and Culture-Population Education Program. Since its creation in 1972 the Population Education Program of the Research Unit has been conducting research studies on a centralized basis, seeking out research leads, conducting studies to determine the content and methodology of program curriculum, and assessing the effectiveness of training programs. During the past 3 years the Research Unit has also made significant progress in monitoring the program's activities - determining problems and needs, making recommendations on the basis of findings, and initiating action on such recommendations. 1 recommendation is to establish regional centers for research activities. If approved by the Commission on Population, the proposal will bring about major changes in the research program, the most significant of which will be the establishment of research centers in 12 teacher-training institutions all over the country. Additionally, these institutions will offer consultative services to researchers in the field. The reorganization of the research program, as well as the eventual restructuring of the Training and Curriculum Units, anticipates the withdrawal of foreign financial assistance by 1977. In the decentralized setup, basic results gathered by regional research centers can be immediately consumed by the training or curriculum staff based in these institutions. With decentralization and the related activities, the Population Education Program shows itself capable of responding to emerging research needs.     

社会养老模式下的老年人医疗消费行为--基于模糊断点回归的分析

应用CHARLS 2011／2013全国基线调查数据，研究我国现行社会养老对老年人医疗消费行为的影响。模糊断点回归结果显示，养老金提高了老年群体的住院医疗服务利用，有效挤入了老年人的医疗服务消费，而且与基本医疗保险存在互补作用；进一步研究证明，养老金对家户医疗消费水平没有显著影响，但是改变了家庭消费结构，增加了个人医疗支出占家户总消费的比例，一定程度上缓解了老年参保群体的家庭医疗开支压力。因此，政府在实现社会保障体系全民覆盖的同时，有必要探索适合我国国情和传统文化的社会养老保障体系，实现养老模式的互补，缓解人口老龄化对基本养老账户和医保基金支付的潜在压力，促进基本养老保险、企业年金和商业保险三大支柱比例的合理化，提高养老保障水平，形成社会养老保险的长效机制。     

基于人口结构的基础教育投资模型构建

研究人口结构与基础教育投资的数量关系对于基础公共教育政策制定具有重要参考意义。首先探讨了纽约、东京及英国等城市与国家的人口结构与基础教育经费投资的关系,找出影响因素并建立基础教育经费支出模型,以此为基础建立适用于北京基础教育经费支出的数学模型,是由基于低生育率、基于高人口密度及基于高人口成长率的三个子模型组成,并提供了参考数据,未来北京市可依据实际人口发展,有选择地使用三个子模型进行基础教育规划。     

高等教育与我国地区经济发展关系的实证研究——从人力资本存量的角度

本文从人力资本存量的角度考察了2004年我国高等教育与地区经济发展之间的关系。研究发现:(1)高等教育与当地经济发展存在高度正相关,但地理位置因素也会影响到其强弱。(2)高等教育对中部地区经济增长的促进作用最明显,京津及东部沿海地区次之,西部地区最低。(3)总体来看,高等教育对经济增长贡献仍然偏低。因此,应进一步加大高等教育投入,提高其对经济增长贡献。     

The Evolution of Well-Being in Spain (1980–2001): A Regional Analysis

Evaluations of regional welfare conventionally rely on Gross Value Added (GVA) per capita as an indicator of well-being. This paper attempts to re-address the regional welfare issue using alternative indicators to per capita income. With this aim, a database for the Spanish regions (NUTS II) has been constructed for the period 1980–2001 and an augmented version of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) has been estimated incorporating indicators of health, education and per capita income. The results show that, whereas regional income per capita disparities have remained constant, regional convergence in the Augmented Human Development Index (AHDI) was achieved between 1980 and 2001. None the less, there is no evidence of intra-distributional mobility (leap-frogging) across regions in the AHDI     

财政分权、软公共品供给与户籍管制

文章在户籍管制问题的研究框架下,提出转型环境中财政分权因素是根本性影响城市户籍管制水平的观点,认为分权财政下的地方政府从自身利益出发,会放松户籍管制。但软公共品供给增长与户籍管制呈现非线性相关特征。作者使用户籍管制程度指标,建立相应的实证模型,并利用19个副省级以上城市的面板数据,证实了理论研究结论。研究发现,财政分权度与户籍管制程度显著负相关;户籍管制程度与软公共品供给增长速度呈显著非线性U形相关关系。软公共品供给开始增长时,会使户籍管制程度变得更为严格;但随着软公共品供给增长速度加快,会使户籍管制逐渐减弱。     

Research note: imputing large group averages for missing data,using rural-urban continuum codes for density driven industry sectors

Understanding the effects and consequences of missing data imputation is vital to the ability to obtain meaningful and reliable statistics and coefficients in the examination of any quantitatively-based phenomena. Over time a series of sophisticated methods have been developed to handle the issue of missing data imputation however, these sophisticated methods may not always be appropriate or attainable. In these specific cases more traditional approaches to missing data imputation must be employed and driven by the research project, theoretical framework, and the data. In this research note we offer a brief account of one such instance, implementing a large-group mean imputation approach to handling missing data. The analysis is drawn from a much larger project and shows the effect of proper group selection in terms of mean imputation using a cross-validation approach based on the imputed data’s relation to known values. Ultimately, the results show that the use of Rural-Urban Continuum codes are superior to currently used group-means in the U.S., thus introducing a new, and more efficient, approach to the handling of missing data using group-mean imputation.     

The effect of women’s participation in the labour market on the postponement of first childbirth: a comparison of Italy and Hungary

This paper analyses the effect of increasing female participation in the labour market on the transition to first childbirth. Regional perspectives are considered to help us understand how postponement behaviour is changing over time and at different paces in each region. The analysis is based on the first wave of the Generations and Gender Survey of Italy and Hungary. We use a multilevel event history random intercept model to examine the effect of individuals’ positions in the labour market on the transition to motherhood, controlling for differences in macrolevel factors related to regional backgrounds in the two countries. The regional data for Italy came from the Italian National Statistical Institute, and for Hungary from our imputation developed from the time series available at the national and the regional levels (Hungarian Central Statistical Office, KSH). The postponement of first childbirth is strongly linked to the increasing involvement of women in paid work, but with opposite effects in the two countries. Even if we control for changes in women’s levels of education over time and for shifts in women’s aspirations and levels of attainment in the labour market, we find that being employed remains a risk factor for the postponement of the first birth among Italian women, and a strong protective factor among Hungarian women. At the contextual level, the variables that take into account the regional socio-economic changes provides evidence of important effects on individual behaviour among Italian women, and of only minor effects among Hungarian women. All of the regional breakdowns in both Italy and Hungary show that the postponement of motherhood goes hand-in-hand with the acceptance of deep cultural and socio-economic changes.     

卫生投入对中国健康人力资本及经济增长影响的结构分析

文章通过分析1993～2008年中国30省份卫生结构演变特征显示,卫生投入结构的失衡是当前中国医疗卫生发展中所暴露出的突出问题之一,表现为个人比例过高,而公共比例偏低,而借助省份面板协整模型实证研究结果进一步表明,其不仅短期内直接降低了民众健康福利水平,构成了对区域经济增长的负效应,且地区间的卫生结构差距将显著影响到区域健康人力资本长期发展能力,进而对长期经济增长能力和增长方式转型也构成深远影响。文章认为,新医改内涵要立足于将改善民生健康福利与实施人力资本发展战略相结合,以理顺和完善卫生投入主体结构为切入点,促进整个医疗卫生领域的结构优化和长效发展。     

流动人口的流入地选择机制

基于2017年全国流动人口动态监测调查数据和相关统计年鉴数据,使用嵌套Logit模型,以地级行政区为基本地域单位,以流量流动人口为研究对象,讨论流动人口的流入地选择机制问题。分析结果表明:流动人口中的流量样本与存量样本存在显著的结构性差异,且部分相同变量对两者具有不同作用;流动者个体所能切身感受到的社会经济回报在流入地选择机制中起重要作用;地级特征变量和个体特征变量的交互作用表明地区层级特征对流入地选择机制有异质性影响。结论认为,研究流动人口的不同问题时先要考虑使用流量样本还是存量样本;社会经济"预期回报"而非纯粹的"预期收入"是吸引流动人口的重要因素;流入地选择是流动者基于个体特征、结合流入地特征而做出的综合性的理性决策。     

Catastrophic household expenditure on caesarean deliveries in India

The objectives of our study were to examine the (1) trends and patterns of caesarean deliveries in India and; (2) differentials in catestrophic household expenditure on caesarean deliveries. The paper used data from 71st round of the National Sample Survey, India. The analysis included 14,310 women, hospitalised for delivery during the last 365 days preceding the survey. The proportion of caesarean sections among institutional deliveries in India was 2.5% in 1992–1993, which increased to 23.9% in 2014. In private facilities, 47.8% deliveries were conducted through caesarean section, while in public facilities, this proportion was 8%. OOPE per delivery was US$157 which was 64.9% of the total cost of maternal health care. OOPE varied by type of delivery; US$283 for caesarean and US$77 for non-caesarean delivery. About 60% of households incurred the expenditure on caesarean section exceeding 40% of their capacity to pay. The incidence of catastrophic delivery expenditure declined with increased education and per-capita expenditure. Caesarean delivery in private facilities and a hospital stay of more than 48 h increased the chances of catastrophic expenditure. Interventions and regulations are necessary for both public and private sector to check unwarranted caesarean deliveries and hospital stays to reduce catastrophic expenditure.

     

Fiscal Decentralization and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Urban China

The impact of government structure on citizen welfare remains an open question. This study uses a repeated cross-section data (China General Social Survey) of Chinese urban households to test the hypothesis that fiscal decentralization increases individual welfare. The data used were collected in 2003, 2005 and 2006 and covered most of the provinces in China. We construct two measures of fiscal decentralization: one is based on revenue and the other on expenditure. Then we apply ordered Probit regression to investigate the impact of decentralization on individual life satisfaction after controlling a rich set of individual characteristics and several important macroeconomic factors. We find that greater revenue decentralization increases life satisfaction, a finding that is quite robust across different specifications. We also find that revenue decentralization is more important to the underdeveloped western region, the private sector employees and homeowners. In terms of income distribution, both the rich and the poor gain from revenue decentralization.     

教育投入与社会保障对城乡收入差距的联合影响

当前城乡收入差距扩大化趋势引起广泛关注。文章使用世代交叠模型研究公共教育和社会保障对收入分配的作用机制,在此基础上分析公共教育和社会保障对城乡收入差距的影响。研究发现,公共教育通过作用于教育投资、社会保障通过作用于有效家庭时间共同影响人力资本积累从而影响收入。一方面,数值模拟结果显示公共教育和社会保障的增加能够显著地增加收入;另一方面,结合中国城乡实际的实证研究结果显示,本应该起到调节和缩小城乡收入差距的公共教育和社会保障制度,并没有发挥其收入再分配的功能,反而形成了"逆向调节"的负效应,扩大了城乡收入差距,对此,文章通过理论与实证得出,缩小我国城乡人均教育投资和社会保障税率差距对缩小城乡收入差距具有重要的现实意义。     

Regional Price Parities and Real Regional Income for the United States

The success and expansion of the International Comparison Program (ICP) has led to an increase in interest and effort on the estimation of sub-national price levels and purchasing power parities (PPPs). The ICP highlighted a difficulty that large countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China face during the price-collection phase, namely how to obtain average prices when there are large disparities in many types of expenditure categories, such as housing prices between rural and urban settings. The fact that such disparities were in evidence led to more research on within-country PPPs, or regional price parities (RPPs). The difference between a RPP and the PPPs is simply that the former are in the same currency, while PPPs are usually converted to a reference country or currency by the exchange rate, such as the United States Dollar or the Euro. This paper describes the methodology used to estimate the RPPs within the United States, and shows their effect on measures of income adjusted to constant dollars, termed real regional incomes.