Why cross-regional public service competition is necessary

In the process of providing public services, the government is the decisive factor. Public fiscal expenditures in Nordic countries account for a large proportion of government expenditures. This is in sharp contrast with my country's current fiscal expenditure structure.

(1) The proportion of government expenditure in GDP is increasing year by year. Olafa Firth, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Urban and Regional Research, pointed out that the total expenditure of the Norwegian government increased from 27% of GDP in the 1950s to 54% from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. In the early 20th century, Norway's government consumption accounted for about 6% of the GDP, rising to 10% in the 1950s. After the 1980s, government consumption accounted for 1/5 of the GDP.

(2) The proportion of public finance expenditures continues to increase. While the proportion of government expenditure in GDP continues to increase, the proportion of public fiscal expenditure in government expenditure in Nordic countries is also constantly increasing. Olafa Firth pointed out that in 1995, Norway's workers' benefits, pensions and economic support for families paid through transfer payments accounted for 65% of government expenditures. Other Nordic experts also emphasized that the basic feature of the Nordic model is the high proportion of public fiscal expenditures in government expenditures.

(3) Improve the working environment of the public security department and increase the salary of public security department staff. Nordic experts pointed out that due to the characteristics of the public service sector, it requires government support to ensure fair, reasonable and effective redistribution. The government must ensure that salaries in the public sector are not too low. Gredin, the former Swedish Minister of Fair Affairs and Immigration, pointed out that if the salary in the public sector is lower than that in private enterprises, the public sector will not be able to retain talents, the quality of services will be affected, and the education, medical and other social services that citizens receive will be affected. The quality of service will also decline.

Nordic countries give full play to the role of governments at all levels in providing public services, clearly divide the responsibilities of public services at all levels of government, and also explore an effective central government management of local governments. way.

(1) There is a very clear division of labor between the central government and local governments in Norway. Municipal governments are mainly responsible for labor-intensive services, while the central government is mainly responsible for income redistribution and other collective services. Under normal circumstances, about 70% of labor benefits and 75% of public sector employee wages are paid by local governments; for administration, national defense, pensions, etc., the central government accounts for the vast majority. Therefore, the implementers of welfare policies are mainly local governments.

(2) The division of financial and administrative powers between central and local governments in Sweden. Swald introduced the division of financial and administrative powers between central and local governments in Sweden. Local government includes county and city levels. These two levels of government are under the central government, but there is no superior-subordinate relationship. There is an equal relationship between them.

The Swedish central government is responsible for insurance and transfer payments. Unemployment, disease insurance and pension systems are determined by the central government. Swedish local government has a high degree of autonomy, and its main task is to provide citizens with low-cost and convenient public services as equally as possible. The main tasks of local government public services include medical care, services for the elderly, services for the disabled and children. The county-level government is mainly responsible for health care services; the municipal-level government is mainly responsible for the education of teenagers under the age of 18, children and elderly services, and is also responsible for social welfare, care for the disabled, local construction and planning, water resource utilization and drainage, street cleaning, Waste disposal and rescue services, etc. Transportation services are shared between counties and cities.

Because local governments have many responsibilities, most of Swedish public expenditures are in local governments. At present, county and municipal government expenditures account for about 2/3 of government expenditures. As they undertake most of the public service functions, local governments have corresponding financial rights. Local governments can determine their own tax standards and budgets. The central government will not interfere with local government budgets and only requires balanced budget allocation.

(3) The central government’s support and supervision of local public services. Odru, a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Urban and Regional Development, pointed out that the central government hands over certain public service functions to local governments, gives local governments great powers, and uses effective control tools to support and supervise the effectiveness of local governments. Provide public services.

First, the overall target licensing plan. The revenue and expenditure needs of cities vary greatly. Municipal revenue comes from three sources: taxation, central government allocations, and special service charges. In order to ensure the equality of public services in different localities, the central government balances the differences in tax revenue of different local governments caused by differences in geographical conditions, social conditions and levels of democracy through the overall target licensing plan and transfer payments. This plan was implemented in 1986. The core is the actual expenditure compensation mechanism, which is based on objective standards (equalization of expenditures) and provides subsidies according to the needs of each county and city.

Second, the environmental impact assessment system. While controlling local governments through transfer payment management, the central government also restricts local governments through environmental measures, requiring local governments to assess the environmental impact of policies. The environmental impact assessment system constrains local governments to prevent and control environmental pollution at the source.