OECD Development Centre Working Papers
The OECD Development Centre links OECD members with developing and emerging economies and fosters debate and discussion to seek creative policy solutions to emerging global issues and development challenges. This series of working papers is intended to disseminate the OECD Development Centre’s research findings rapidly among specialists in the field concerned. These papers are generally available in the original English or French, with a summary in the other language.
- ISSN: 18151949 (online)
- https://doi.org/10.1787/18151949
Fiscal Decentralisation, Chinese Style
Good for Health Outcomes?
This paper analyses the effect of fiscal decentralisation on health outcomes in China using
a panel data set with nationwide county-level data. We find that counties in more fiscally
decentralised provinces have lower infant mortality rates than counties where the provincial
government remains the main spending authority, if certain conditions are met. Spending
responsibilities at the local level need to be matched with county governments’ own fiscal
capacity. For county governments that have only limited revenues, the ability to spend on local
public goods such as health care depends crucially upon intergovernmental transfers. The
findings of this paper, therefore, support the common assertion that fiscal decentralisation can
lead to more efficient production of local public goods, while also highlighting the conditions
required for this result to be obtained.
Keywords: health-care finance, health, fiscal decentralisation, China
JEL:
I18: Health, Education, and Welfare / Health / Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health;
H72: Public Economics / State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations / State and Local Budget and Expenditures;
H51: Public Economics / National Government Expenditures and Related Policies / Government Expenditures and Health;
H75: Public Economics / State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations / State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
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