The Influence Mechanism Of Market Economy System On Local Government Functions Transformation

Since the reform and opening-up,China has become the second largest economy in the world,creating a miracle of coexistence of a fast-growing market economy and a long-term stable society.This remarkable achievement is the result of the joint effect of the reform of market economy system and the transformation of government functions.The reform of market economy system and the transformation of local government functions are the top priority for the high-quality development of economy and society.Previous studies on the transformation of local government functions mostly focused on the internal relationship of government system and how to promote the development of market economy system through government reform.Therefore,it is great significance to study the influence mechanism of market economy system reform on the transformation of local government functions.This study took “analytical framework-empirical analysis-policy recommendations” as the main line.The market economy system was incorporated into the research framework of local government function transformation to construct an analytical framework.This study depicted the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of market economy system and local government function in 30 provinces from 1987 to 2017;and studied the impact of the local government function transformation from market economy system reform,using panel data of 223 cities from 1997 to 2017.First-hand data of 325 county-level regions were collected through questionnaires to study the impact path.The following conclusions were drawn:(1)The spatial and temporal evolution of the market economy system and local government functions.This paper constructed a comprehensive evaluation index system for the market economy system and the transformation of local government functions and described the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of the two.Since the reform and opening-up,the development level of market economy system and the performance of local government functions had been continuously improved,and the market economy system developed faster.There were significant regional differences in the two aspects of development.The eastern coastal areas developed faster than the central and western regions.Coordination analysis finds that there was a certain correlation between the reform of market economy system and the performance of government function execution.They complement each other and gradually move from “uncoordinated and low development” to coordinated development.(2)The effect of market economy system on the transformation of local government functions.The development of market economy system had a significant impact on the scale of local government functions,and through the intermediary role of government size.Firstly,the three elements of market economy system had different effects on the scale of local government: the influence of non-public economic development on the scale of government was inverted U-shaped;the development of financial elements and opening-up would lead to the expansion of the scale of government.Secondly,the logical chain of “market economy system → government scale → government function performance” was established: the development of market economy system had a positive effect on government function performance,but a specific factor may have adverse effects.The development of non-public economy was not conducive to the balanced development of urban and rural areas,while the opening-up produced environmental protection pressure.Government intervention was not conducive to economic growth but played an important role in other areas.Third,there is a two-way causal relationship between the market economy system and the scale of local government.(3)The influence path of market economy system on the transformation of local government functions.The growth of market subjects,the development of market elements and the optimization of market environment all had an impact on the internal optimization or external adaptation of local governments.Market participants had more direct impact on the performance of local government function transformation.The development and optimization of market factors and market environment provided indirect impact on the performance of local government function transformation by influencing the vitality of social organizations and strategic adjustment of higher government.The innovations of this paper were mainly embodied in four aspects: firstly,introducing the factors of market economy system to supplement the analytical framework of the transformation of local government functions;secondly,focusing on the impact of market economy system reform on the transformation of local government functions,so as to realize the transformation of research perspectives;thirdly,it examines the evolution characteristics of market economy system reform and local government function transformation from the dual dimensions of time and space.Fourthly,it uses a variety of empirical analysis methods to fully verify the direct and indirect influence mechanism.Finally,according to the results of empirical analysis,this paper put forward three policy suggestions: build a “satisfactory” government,a “promising” market,and a “dynamic” society.