The Present Situation and Characteristics of Social Security in China

(B) the construction of rural social security system

The existing literature has its own research angle on the construction of rural social security system:

From the first point of view, starting from the differences of rural economic development, the basic idea of establishing and perfecting rural social security system is to design and implement it according to the economic development level of different types of rural areas. In poor rural areas, establish a relief social security system with basic living security as its content, establish a social security system with basic living needs as its content in rich rural areas and establish an insurance social security system in rich rural areas. According to different content designs, it is classified and implemented in management system, implementation breakthrough, financing mode and system guarantee. Different scholars have different views on whether to establish a relatively independent social security system for urban migrant workers, or to bring it into the social security system for urban residents or into the rural social security system. (Ren Baoping, Rebecca, 2003)

From the second point of view, the rural social security system should take into account the differentiation and stratification of rural residents. Because of the different nature and needs of stratified objects, the system design is also different. Traditional farmers have been divided into traditional farmers and industrial workers, including various non-agricultural industries. Migrant workers can be divided into three parts: one part is migrant workers who have become citizens and their professional identity has completely changed. It is necessary to bring them into cities and into citizens' social security system through institutional reform. The second part is seasonal workers who come out to work in the off-season. The social security they need is completely different from that of urbanized people. The third part is migrant workers, most of whom are migrant workers. They work outside the home all the year round, and their social security system is different from the former two (Zheng Gongcheng, 20 obstacles). When designing the rural social security system, we must take into account the different needs of different rural population groups for social security at this stage and the increasing diversity of rural population: some rural people have actually realized non-agriculture (they should design institutional channels to enter the urban social security system), some are still engaged in traditional agricultural production (the level of security provided by land needs to be improved), and some are the poorest rural people (what they need most is the "bottom" function of the social security system) (Fan Xiaogang

The third angle, based on the economic and cultural foundation of China, holds that the construction of rural social security system with China characteristics cannot and should not copy the western model. China's rural social security system is a unified whole based on the household contract responsibility system, with rural family security as the main line, supplemented by family members' mutual assistance, and the combination of government and society. (Yang Fuxing and Zhao Wanshui, 2004)

Third, the social security financing model-the dispute over taxes and fees

The first view is that the reform of social security tax system is an important and complicated difficulty in the reform of social security system. The function of social security tax is that it is the pillar of social security construction; The essence of tax-sharing system is to promote the transition from welfare social security to real social insurance model; The relationship between social security tax rate and social security financing mode is the relationship between action and reaction; The main measures to establish a social security tax system with China characteristics are comprehensive collection, reasonable collection, encouragement collection and security collection (Z-kou Dasong, 1997). Only in this way can the fairness principle of basic pension be truly reflected, which is conducive to solving the current payment crisis of basic pension and building a unified, standardized and perfect basic old-age security system (Gong Xiuquan and Huang Shengkai, 2002).

The second view is against "changing fees into taxes". It is considered that there is a contradiction between the change of social security fee to tax and the operation mode of the current social insurance system. The reasons are as follows: First, the publicity of taxation conflicts with the private nature of social security personal accounts. The second is the conflict between indirect tax repayment and social security specificity. Third, it is difficult to link up and operate with the current social security policy (Wang Zeying, 2002). In addition, levying social security tax to solve the problems of difficult charging and expensive financing will make the government fall into a situation of increasing financial burden (Li Shaoguang, 2002).

The third view is that the change of social security fees to taxes should be postponed. The reason is that the goal of fee-to-tax reform is vague, there are many restrictive factors and technical obstacles, and the expected effect is uncertain, which does not conform to the development trend of international social security reform (Zheng Gongcheng, 2000). Similarly, since China's fiscal and taxation system is a tax-sharing system, the collection of social security tax must consider the matching of administrative power and financial power, so there are only two possibilities. One is that the established pension insurance scheme can only be local, and local governments need to face great financial risks. The other is that there are still many problems left over from the national pension insurance plan. Therefore, the establishment of a government in China does not meet the conditions for levying social security tax (Deng, 2002).

The fourth view is to adopt a flexible way of non-designated tax or quasi-designated tax. This view holds that it is difficult to avoid the "crowding-out effect" brought by the pay-as-you-go financing method adopted in China before by levying social security tax, and it is also impossible to ensure that an optimal tax rate can be determined. The alternative financing method, that is, a certain amount of total fiscal revenue is regularly allocated to the special fund for endowment insurance, can not only reduce the crowding-out effect of pay-as-you-go system on total savings, but also not hinder the collection of social security tax at the right time in the future. Adopting this method is consistent with the present situation of pension insurance reform and fiscal and taxation system reform in China (Zhigang Cheng, 2002).

The fifth view holds that the financing mode of social security in China should be compound in the future. Fees and taxes are not related to each other, and any financing model can not meet the huge capital demand of social security independently. Charging or collecting taxes is related to the mode of social security and the choice of projects. Taxes and fees have their own basis and cannot be substituted for each other. However, levying social security tax is an irreversible trend, and fees can only be a supplement to taxes (Wang Yi and Liu Jing, 2004).

Fourth, the fund operation mode

With the transformation of China's social security fund raising from pay-as-you-go system to partial accumulation system, the investment and operation of pension funds is an important topic in the reform of social security system (Cai Xingyang, 1997). At present, the main investments of China's social security fund are still bank deposits, national debt and social security oriented bonds, and a small part is invested in corporate bonds, stock markets and other securities markets. While ensuring safety, maintaining and increasing value has become a difficult and challenging issue in the management of social security funds, and the operation mode of social security funds has always been one of the hot issues, involving social security funds entering the capital market, diversification of investment operation, marketization, management mode, selection of remaining financing tools and so on. Several typical views are as follows:

The first view is that pension funds should become institutional investors. Institutional investors are large in scale and tend to invest for a long time, which can stabilize the stock market and realize the preservation and appreciation of social security funds. However, pension funds need to meet four conditions. First, they must have a capital scale that can bear certain risks; Second, it should be based on a more developed financial market; Third, there must be a professional fund custodian; Fourthly, pension funds should adopt an indexed investment policy (Cheng Hongye, 200 1).

The second view is that social security funds should invest in open-end funds. This view holds that, first of all, open-end fund is a variety with relatively low risk and relatively high income. As a collective investment tool with income sharing and risk sharing, it can neither guarantee investors a certain income nor a minimum income. Judging from the operation of foreign mature social security funds, it is more common to invest in open-end funds. Second, when investing, we need to pay attention to controlling the quota to avoid liquidity risk and payment difficulties. Third, due to the price risk of open-end funds, social security funds should adhere to the principle of long-term investment and choose income-based funds for investment (Zhang Shuyuan and Du Aiping, 200 1).

The third point of view is that pension entering the capital market is the final choice, but the conditions are not yet mature. This view holds that, in theory, a fully accumulated pension plan must become an institutional investor in the capital market in order to obtain a long-term and stable return on investment. A stable and prosperous capital market can transform pension savings into efficient investment through this channel, and share the benefits of investment, so that the social security system reform in China can maximize the overall efficiency of economic growth. However, in China, because the capital market has been in a high-risk state for a long time, and at the same time, because the pension funds that have not been fully accumulated have entered the capital market legally and carefree, its theoretical role cannot be played. If the fund accumulation system can continue and become a long-term main goal of China's pension system reform, then the pension plan will enter the capital market sooner or later. However, the institutional system suitable for fund operation in the capital market has not yet been finalized, the organizational structure has not yet been formed, and the operating rules are still unclear (Li Shaoguang, 2002). Specific to the discussion of social security funds entering the stock market, there is a similar view that social security funds of pay-as-you-go nature should not rush to enter the stock market, because it is not mature to enter the stock market from the perspective of capital market or social security fund system conditions (Zheng Bingwen, 2003).

The fourth view holds that according to the basic characteristics, target orientation, fund management and capital market status of China's social security system, China's social funds should be divided into three different funds, namely, reserve fund (national social security fund), account fund (individual account accumulation) and overall fund (social pooling part accumulation). And set up three independent legal institutions for investment and management. For reserve funds, it is necessary to completely break away from the domestic capital market and move towards the international market; The account funds are managed and invested by the central government; Co-ordinating funds implement provincial-level co-ordination and investment management (Zheng Bingwen, 2004).

Fifth, the social security fund should choose the money market as the main place for liquidity management. It is believed that social security funds can increase the supply of funds in the money market and activate transactions in the money market. On the other hand, it also helps to promote competition in the money market, promote the innovation of financial instruments, and then improve the liquidity and operational efficiency of the money market. The entry of social security fund also puts forward higher requirements for financial supervision, because the special requirements of social security fund require a good order and high efficiency of money market, which can objectively promote the supervision department to improve the supervision level. The short-term and long-term effects of interest rate changes in money market on social security funds are different. The interaction between money market and social security fund has a positive impact on the development of a country's financial market and social security (Bai Yang, 2005).

Verb (abbreviation of verb) management mode-the role of government

The prominent feature of modern social security system lies in the leading position of the government in the construction and operation of social security system. The government's different social security management modes directly determine and reflect the types of social security systems. Since the beginning of social security reform, the management mode has gone through the process of decentralized management of enterprises-decentralized management of government-centralized management of government. At the beginning of the reform, most of the debates about the management mode focused on the unification or division of responsibilities of the national social security management institutions. For example, with the establishment and improvement of China's socialist market economic system, this management mode can no longer meet the needs of economic and social development, and must be reformed, from the current multi-department management to unified management by one department (Tian Jiaguan, 1997). Resolutely reverse the fragmented situation of "Five Dragons for Water Control" and implement unified management. The social security management system is characterized by the separation of political affairs, politics and economy, administration and supervision, and the government management department only cares about policies, supervision and inspection regardless of operation (Feng Lanrui, 1994, 1996). Regarding the specific role of the government in the management of the social security system, there are the following views:

The first viewpoint advocates self-management. It is believed that China should establish a social security management system that combines unification and separation, and implement independent management, which is not subordinate to government agencies. The supreme leadership of insurance institutions belongs to the Congress, with employers and employees equally divided. The election of the board of directors by the congress is a management model combining distribution and collection. According to the differences of various social insurance management requirements, the projects with strong commonality will be centralized and unified management will be implemented, while some projects with outstanding particularity will be listed separately and decentralized management will be implemented by relevant departments. This management model actively promotes the integrated security system, which is conducive to establishing an efficient and capable social security management network under the principle of clear responsibilities (Sun Jiupeng, 1996). In addition, based on the different characteristics of social insurance, social assistance, social welfare and other projects, the management model should also be different. The management mode of China's social insurance should be changed from centralized management by the government to autonomous management mode of multi-cooperation, and a social insurance management committee (3+ 1 mode) composed of representatives of the government, employers, workers and experts should be established to implement autonomous management (Zheng Gongcheng, 2004).

The second view advocates the government-led social security model. It is believed that the various security measures provided by the social security system to members of the society have the nature of "public goods" to meet the common needs of society and have certain financial characteristics. Therefore, the financial leading mode should be the basic mode of China's social security system reform (Ma, 1999). The choice of social security mode in China should be led and directly managed by the government for a long time to come. There are two reasons. First, from the perspective of historical and cultural traditions, China has long implemented a centralized government management system, with high authority and high recognition of the government by members of society. The implementation and development of social security by the government has less resistance and higher efficiency; Secondly, from the actual national conditions, China's government is relatively large, and the government is responsible for the specific implementation of the social security system, and the cost is also low. In a short period of time, in order to meet the needs of system transition, we should increase the government's pre-planning of social security. At the same time, corresponding to the leading role of the government, the market plays an auxiliary role in the management mode of the social security system (Song Wenbin and Zhang Qiang, 2004). This view is the mainstream view at present.

The third view is the mixed management model. It is believed that China government should assume the responsibility of overall and direct management of public social security plans, while fund-based social security plans should mainly assume the responsibility of external supervision and coordinate different social security plans. The long-term goal of the government should be to develop a competitive social security fund. In the near future, the government should assume the leading responsibility of the public social security plan, clarify the responsibilities of the state, enterprises and employees through legislation, and establish an effective, scientific and feasible financing system (Li Shaoguang, 2002).

On the role of the government in social security, there is another mode in the world, that is, the management ceremony of social security system is mainly managed indirectly through the market, and the government only acts as a legislator and supervisor. In the practice of social security system reform in China, there are few similar views.

Comprehensive evaluation method of intransitive verbs

In fact, although the social security system in China has been reformed and developed, the construction of the system framework has been basically completed, but there are still a lot of theoretical problems to be studied and discussed in the field of social security in China, and there are also a lot of places to be built and improved in the urban and rural social security system in practice. In theory and practice, the choice of social security system model in China is still controversial. Summarizing the literature, we can find that most scholars study the social security system model with China characteristics based on the diversified development laws and trends of the social security system model and the national conditions of China. The following is because of this reason, there are many documents about the choice of framework and specific mode. But there are some disadvantages in the other direction:

First of all, it focuses on the study of social security system from the perspective of economics, ignoring the interdisciplinary study of social security system (Ding, 2003). Social security involves sociology, politics, economics, public management and other fields. In particular, the choice of social security system model is influenced by many factors (including economic factors and non-economic factors), and most documents are single-minded when studying the choice of social security model.

Second, there are more researches on solving practical problems, but less on basic and theoretical problems, especially on organizational concepts. For example, it focuses on the research on the content composition and fund operation of social security system, ignoring the research on the relationship between responsibility and rights in social security (Ding, 2003). Practice without theoretical guidance is often vacillating, and sometimes it is inevitable that there will be a blind phenomenon of "treating the headache and treating the foot pain".

Third, there are many single studies on "matter-of-fact" (single research mode), but few comprehensive and systematic studies. For example, regarding the financing mode, many documents discuss the reasons and necessity of changing fees into taxes, but rarely analyze the restrictive factors, feasibility and how to ensure the effect of changing fees into taxes under the current situation in China.

Fourth, pay attention to the necessity research and analysis, ignoring the adequacy and feasibility demonstration, and the theoretical, systematic and comprehensive analysis is not enough. It is often impossible to fully demonstrate the above viewpoints or refute the opposite viewpoints, which can be said to form a situation of "a hundred schools of thought contend" and "contention".

Fifth, on the basis of introducing international experience (such as fund operation mode, management mode, fund raising mode, etc. ), pay attention to static research and ignore dynamic research (such as system, model evolution law and influencing factors, etc. ); In foreign countries, it pays attention to universality and effectiveness, but fails to fully consider the actual situation in China and the differences in institutional basis and background between foreign countries and China. In addition, we attach importance to the study of the current situation of social security in contemporary western countries, ignoring the study of the development and evolution of social security system in western countries.

Combined with the research topics in the field of international social security, the research on the mode selection of China's social security system should focus on the following special topics: first, the effectiveness analysis of the mode selection of China's social security system under the specific background of the times; Secondly, the influence of population aging and urbanization trend on the choice of social security system model in China; Third, the relationship between the choice of social security system model and the labor market (urban and rural labor market) and the employment market.

Further reading: How to buy insurance, which is good, and teach you how to avoid these "pits" of insurance.