Research On Policy Effects Of Ecological Fiscal Transfer Payment In China

Since the reform and opening up of China,the Chinese government has always attached great importance to improving the quality of economic development and emphasised the coordination of economic and social development with environmental protection.In particular,since the Party’s 18 th National Congress,the Party Central Committee has coordinated the overall layout of the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy,placing the construction of ecological civilization in a prominent and important position;The report of the Party’s 19 th National Congress comprehensively elaborates on the strategic plan to accelerate the reform of the ecological civilization system,promote green development and build a beautiful China,and for the first time includes "committed to harmony between human and nature" in the basic strategy for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era,indicating a roadmap for China to further promote the construction of ecological civilization;the Party’s 20 th National Congress report pointed out that we must stay true to the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,pushing forward the prevention and control of pollution and further improving the system of ecological civilization.In line with this,China has put forward a series of policies for the construction of ecological civilization at different stages of development,and has formulated a multi-level policy system from top to bottom.However,from the perspective of China’s development practice,the resources and environment have still paid an extremely heavy price for it.Finance is the foundation and important pillar of national governance.The central government has actively participated in ecological and environmental governance through a number of direct or indirect policies such as increased investment and tax relief,which have effectively curbed the trend of environmental pollution.However,due to the complexity and long-term nature of ecological and environmental problems,and their accompanying issues of equity and efficiency,environmental governance remains more difficult.As a new fiscal tool for environmental governance,the eco-transfer mechanism,which is based on the principle of reciprocity between the costs and benefits of ecological environmental protection,can provide effective incentives for local governments and offer new solutions to the positive and negative externalities that exist in the field of ecological environmental protection,against the background of a clear definition of the central government’s financial authority and the common financial authority of the central and local governments.At present,China’s ecological transfer payments have initially taken on the basic shape of vertical transfer payments focusing on key areas and regions and horizontal transfer payments with key watersheds and major cities as pilot sites.But what exactly are the policy effects? How is the policy approach designed? It remains to be considered.This thesis selects vertical fiscal transfers for key ecological function areas and horizontal transfers for ecological compensation in Xin’an River as typical samples,and uses a combination of theoretical and practical analysis,qualitative and econometric models to examine the effects of ecological transfer policies from the perspective of the three major functions of finance,namely income distribution,resource allocation and economic stability,and then combines them with typical case studies to optimize the design of ecological transfer policies.The theoretical framework of ecological transfer payments is comprehensively constructed.Firstly,it will analyse the connotation and extension of ecological transfer payments,and identify the differences between ecological transfer payments,public finance transfer payments and ecological compensation in the light of existing research results on ecological transfer payments at home and abroad;secondly,it will explain the theoretical origins of ecological transfer payments in the light of ecological factor endowment,ecological supply and demand mismatch and fiscal reciprocity principles;then,it will discuss the income distribution function of ecological transfer payments based on environmental poverty and the environmental Engel curve;then,based on environmental poverty and the environmental engel curve,the income distribution function of ecological transfers is discussed,based on theories of public goods,environmental decentralization and fiscal imbalance,the resource allocation function of ecological transfers is discussed,through the construction of a game evolution model,the green development function of ecological and economic synergy is discussed.The evolutionary features of ecological transfer payment is systematically summarized.Comprehensively review the policy documents on ecological financial transfer payments since reform and opening up,especially since the 18 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,and summarize the evolution characteristics of vertical transfer payments policies in key areas such as forests,grasslands,wetlands and key ecological functional areas;summarizes the evolution characteristics of the horizontal financial transfer payment policy with "matching support" as the prototype and "ecological compensation" as the pilot;make an in-depth analysis of the scale,allocation criteria and scope of fiscal funds,and systematically summarize the realistic characteristics of transfer payments for ecological purposes.The policy effects of ecological fiscal transfer payment is empirically measured.Taking transfer payments in key ecological functional areas as typical samples,and uses macro-provincial data,household tracking micro-survey data and county data released by the Ministry of Finance according to the application,combines theil index,entropy method and principal component analysis method to build an index system,and utilizes bidirectional fixed effect model and multi-period DID measurement models,identify the income distribution effects,the basic public services effects and the green development effects of eco-economy coordination;Further,it explores the mechanism of eco-transfers in raising farmers’ income and thus improving income distribution,as well as the pro-poor and blood transfusion nature of eco-transfers;discusses the mechanism of eco-transfers in regulating fiscal imbalance and improving the supply of basic public services,as well as the heterogeneity of the basic public services and equalisation effect of eco-transfers among regions,poor regions and urban agglomerations;and verifies the synergy between eco-transfers and financial policies in promoting green development efficiency,as well as the regulation effect of fiscal autonomy.The policy practice of ecological transfer payments is investigated in the field.Using the Xin’an River ecological compensation as a typical practical case,and using the data collected on horizontal and vertical ecological transfer funds,we explore in depth the arrangements for the use of ecological transfer funds in the basin in various regions;Using questionnaire interviews,research data and statistical data from relevant departments,analyse the use arrangements and effectiveness of the use of funds in the upstream regions,and analyse the effectiveness of the use of funds in terms of regulating income distribution,enhancing basic public services and achieving green development;Combined with the effects of the ecological transfer payment pilot,a comprehensive review was conducted to summarise the application of ecological compensation in the Ta-pieh Mountains,the Wan-Su-Chu River Basin,surface water sections and the main stream of the Yangtze River in Anhui Province.The optimized scheme of ecological fiscal transfer payment is accurately proposed.Faced with the positive results of income distribution effect and basic public service improvement effect achieved by ecological transfer payment,and the negative conclusion that hematopoietic ability and green development effect are not strong,It puts forward specific policy suggestions such as innovating the development mode of ecological industry,improving self-hematopoietic ability,scientifically formulating ecological transfer payment standards,comprehensively applying policy toolbox,enhancing policy coordination level,perfecting the ecological transfer payment system below the provincial level,promoting the reform of the financial system below the provincial level,and building a network framework of "vertical + horizontal" ecological financial transfer payment.