China's reform of intergovernmental fiscal relations in the light of European experiences

Spahn, Paul Bernd (1995): China's reform of intergovernmental fiscal relations in the light of European experiences.

Abstract

The paper looks a China's institutional reforms in public finances against the background of European experiences. Particular attention is given to Switzerland and Germany where there is a high degree of consensus forming mechanisms. These federations are also characterized by concepts of regional fairness and are hence more appropriate as potential models than competitive federalism models such as that of the United States. The basic characteristics of the two European federations are described and analyzed.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Federalism; German federation; Swiss federation; Germany; Switzerland; fiscal capacity; equalization; public borrowing; public administration; intergovernmental grants; German unification; tax assignment; shared taxes
• Subjects: H - Public Economics > H1 - Structure and Scope of Government > H10 - General; H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government ; Intergovernmental Relations > H70 - General

References

Ahmad. Etisham, Kye-Sik Lee and Maurice Kennedy (1993), China: The Reform of Intragovernmental Fiscal Relations, Macroeconomic Management and Budget Laws, International Monetary Fund, Fiscal Affairs Department, October.

Ahmad. Etisham, Jon Craig and Dubravko Mihaljek (1994), China: On the Determination of a Grants System, International Monetary Fund, Fiscal Affairs Department, February.

Ahmad. Etisham, Jon Craig and Bob Searle (1994), China: Formulating and Estimating Grants, International Monetary Fund, Fiscal Affairs Department, May.

Bieri, S. (1979), Fiscal federalism in Switzerland, Research Monograph No. 26, Canberra (Australian National University, Centre for Research on Federal Financial Relations).

Bird, Richard (1986), Federal finance in comparative perspective, Toronto (Canadian Tax Foundation).

Dafflon, Bernard (1977), Federal Finance in Theory and Practice--With Special Reference to Switzerland, Bern and Stuttgart.

Dafflon, Bernard (1986), "Fédéralisme, coordination et harmonisation fiscales: étude du cas suisse", Recherches Economiques de Louvain, Vol. 52/1.

Dafflon, Bernard (1989), "Calcul de la capacité financière des cantons: synthèse et évolution", Wirtschaft und Recht, Zürich, 210-220.

Dafflon, Bernard (1991), "Revenue sharing in Switzerland", in Financing Federal and State Governments, edited by the OECD, Centre for Cooperation with European Economies in Transition, Committee on Fiscal Affairs, Paris, (unpublished).

Deutsche Bundesbank (1993), "Die Bedeutung von Nebenhaushalten im Zuge der deutschen Vereinigung", Monthly Report, May 1993, Frankfurt.

DIW (1993), Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Wochenbericht, 20/93, Berlin.

Federal Ministry of Finance (1992), Finanzbericht 1993 and Finanzbericht 1994, Bonn.

Föttinger, Wolfgang and Paul Bernd Spahn (1994), "German unification and its consequences for intergovernmental financial relations", Current Politics and Economics of Europe (NOVA Science Publishers, New York), Vol. 4, Nr. 1, 37-49.

Frey, René L. (1977), "The interregional income gap as a problem of Swiss federalism", in The political economy of federalism, edited by Wallace Oates, Lexington, Mass., 93-104.

Gemeindefinanzbericht (1993), Gemeindefinanzbericht 1993, Köln.

Gao Qiang (1993), Problems in Chinese Intergovernment Fiscal Relations and the Main Difficulties in Future Reform, Background Paper for a Conference on Intragovernmental Fiscal Relations in China, October, Budget Control Department, Ministry of Finance (unpublished).

Gao Qiang (1993), China's Tax Sharing System: Policy Orientation, Back-ground Paper for a Conference on Intragovernmental Fiscal Relations in China, October, Budget Control Department, Ministry of Finance (unpub-lished).

Gygi, Ulrich (1994), "Die Bundesfinanzen nach dem Mehrwertsteuer-entscheid", Die Volkswirtschaft, Vol. 67, Nr. 2, 14-20.

Higy, Camille (1973), Le système fiscal suisse, Administration fédérale des contributions, Berne.

Instituts der deutschen Wirtschaft (1993), Informationsdienst, Nr. 13/1993. Nr. 15/1993, Köln.

Laufenburger, H. (1961), Economie des finances suisses, Librairie de l´Université, Geneva.

Müller, Lothar (1993), "Probleme der Staatsverschuldung vor dem Hin-tergrund der deutschen Vereinigung", Wirtschaftsdienst, 1993/III.

OECD (1992 and 1993), Economic Surveys - Switzerland, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris.

Reissert, Bernd (1978), "Responsibility Sharing and Joint Tasks in West German Federalism ", in: Spahn, Paul Bernd, ed., Principles of Federal Policy Coordination in West Germany: Basic Issues and Annotated Legislation, Research Monograph, Centre for Research on Federal Financial Relations. The Australian National University, Canberra, pp. 24-41.

Spahn, Paul Bernd (1977), "The Pattern of State and Local Taxation in the Federal Republic of Germany", in: Mathews, Russell L., ed., State and Local Taxation, Australian National University Press, Canberra, pp. 190-241.

Spahn, Paul Bernd (1978), "The German Model of Horizontal Federal Decentralisation", in: Spahn, Paul Bernd, ed., Principles of Federal Policy Coordination in West Germany: Basic Issues and Annotated Legislation, Research Monograph, Centre for Research on Federal Financial Relations. The Australian National University, Canberra, pp. 3-23.

Spahn, Paul Bernd (1993), The Community Budget for an Economic and Monetary Union, Houndsmill, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan.

Spahn, Paul Bernd (1994), Country Experience: Switzerland and Germany, Conference paper given at the International Conference on Fiscal Transfer Systems organized by the Chinese Ministry of Finance and the International Monetary Fund with support of the World Bank, held on July 25 - 29, 1994, in Qingdao, China.

Wischard, Jean-Pierre (1994), "Die Voranschläge von Bund, Kantonen und Gemeinden für das Jahr 1994", Die Volkswirtschaft, Vol. 67, Nr. 2,37-45.