Transfer Payments Research Articles

GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT IN NATURAL CAPITAL BOOSTS ECONOMIC GROWTH: EVIDENCE FROM CHINA’S TRANSFER PAYMENT POLICY FOR NATIONAL KEY ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONAL AREAS

This paper studies the impact of the transfer payment policy for national key ecological functional areas (TPPNKEFA) on economic growth. As the most representative and extensive vertical ecological compensation policy in China, the TPPNKEFA plays an important role in protecting and restoring natural capital. Using the county-level TPPNKEFA data disclosed according to the application, we constructed a multi-stage DID model to identify the economic growth effect of TPPNKEFA. The results show that TPPNKEFA effectively improves the level of county economic development, which is more prominent in the counties located in the central and western regions, water conservation functional areas, low economic development level, large fiscal gap, and the counties where TPPNKEFA has been implemented for a long time. A mechanism analysis shows that industrial ecologization and ecological industrialization are important paths. The extension analysis shows that the original intention of TPPNKEFA to promote the restoration of natural capital and the improvement of people’s livelihoods has been well implemented. This study provides important evidence to support efforts to protect and restore natural capital, highlighting the need for governments to invest in natural capital and thus facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Financial transfer payment and green development transition in backward area: a case study in Jiangxi Province, China

Financial transfer payment and green development transition in backward area: a case study in Jiangxi Province, China

SWGTS-a platform for stream-based host DNA depletion.

Microbial sequencing data from clinical samples is often contaminated with human sequences, which have to be removed prior to sharing. Existing methods for human read removal, however, are applicable only after the target dataset has been retrieved in its entirety, putting the recipient at least temporarily in control of a potentially identifiable genetic dataset with potential implications under regulatory frameworks such as the GDPR. In some instances, the ability to carry out stream-based host depletion as part of the data transfer process may be preferable. We present SWGTS, a client-server application for the transfer and stream-based host depletion of sequencing reads. SWGTS enforces a robust upper bound on the maximum amount of human genetic data from any one client held in memory at any point in time by storing all incoming sequencing data in a limited-size, client-specific intermediate processing buffer, and by throttling the rate of incoming data if it exceeds the speed of host depletion carried out on the SWGTS server in the background. SWGTS exposes a HTTP-REST interface, is implemented using docker-compose, Redis and traefik, and requires less than 8 Gb of RAM for deployment. We demonstrate high filtering accuracy of SWGTS; incoming data transfer rates of up to 1.65 megabases per second in a conservative configuration; and mitigation of re-identification risks by the ability to limit the number of SNPs present on a popular population-scale genotyping array covered by reads in the SWGTS buffer to a low user-defined number, such as 10 or 100. SWGTS is available on GitHub: https://github.com/AlBi-HHU/swgts (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10891052). The repository also contains a jupyter notebook that can be used to reproduce all the benchmarks used in this article. All datasets used for benchmarking are publicly available.

Price effects of residents' consumption carbon emissions: Evidence from rural and urban China

Price policy applied to specific products may mitigate consumption carbon emissions (CCE). Nevertheless, the extent to which price effects, such as carbon taxes, differ across income groups and between rural and urban areas in China remains uncertain. With unbalanced provincial panel data from 1999 to 2020, we estimated the demand elasticities of eight major groups of consumer goods and services across income groups separately in rural and urban areas of China, using the Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) and the Exact Affine Stone Index Implicit Marshallian demand system (EASI) in this study. The estimated price elasticities were then used to predict the impact of different price policies on CCE. The results show that taxing the wealthiest individuals and subsidizing the poorest individuals in both rural and urban areas have a beneficial impact on the reduction in CCE. Moreover, expanding transfer payments can further facilitate reductions in CCE. Our findings suggest that achieving CCE equality can be realized through intra-urban and intra-rural transfers, as well as urban-rural transfers achieved by taxing urban residents and subsidizing rural residents.

Redistribution and human development: evidence from Europe

This study examines the relationship between human development and the redistributive effect of taxes and government transfers in 30 European over the period 1990-2021 by means of a fixed-effects panel model. Overall, the analysis suggests that increases in redistribution lead to an increase of development. The coefficient for a one-period lag is also found to be positive and significant, suggesting that the effects of redistributive policies show some persistence. When replicating the experiment for different European regions, the greatest impact of redistributive measures is found in Northern Europe, as opposed to Southern Europe, where the impact on development is not found to be significant.

The influence of local government transparency on the implementation of the sustainable development goals in municipalities

PurposeNowadays, there is a strong public interest in promoting transparency to be informed about the actions of the public sector. At the same time, there has been a significant change in society’s perceptions and concerns about sustainable development, with a marked increase in attention to this area. In this context, our main objective is to investigate the impact of transparency practices in local government on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Spanish municipalities.Design/methodology/approachWe will analyse a sample of 84 municipalities, using the Dynamic Transparency Index published by Dyntra to measure transparency. For the level of implementation of the SDGs, we will use an index specifically created using data from the report “The SDGs in 100 Spanish Cities”, published by the Spanish Network for Sustainable Development in 2020.FindingsMunicipalities with a larger dependent population tend to achieve higher SDG levels. Municipalities with lower financial surpluses and more self-generated resources show better SDG implementation. Progressive political parties lean more towards sustainability, and coalition governments show higher SDG implementation than majority governments. Gender appears to play a minor role in SDG implementation, but male leadership is associated with higher levels. Factors such as population density and government transfers do not have a significant impact on SDG implementation levels.Originality/valueThis study seeks to address the lack of empirical research on the potential impact of transparency on the achievement of the SDGs, while also taking into account other socio-economic, financial and political aspects of the municipality. In doing so, it also contributes to the limited empirical literature on the determinants of the level of SDG implementation in local governments.

Study on spatial distribution, regional differences and dynamic evolution of rural financial risk in China.

Based on panel data from 2009 to 2021, covering 30 provinces in China, we have been constructed the Rural Financial Risk Index using the objective entropy weighting method to study rural financial risk in China systematically from the perspective of spatial distribution. Specifically, we discuss the spatial distribution, regional differences and dynamic evolution of rural financial risk across Chinese four different regions divided into the Northeast, East, Central and West. It's found that Local government debt and Land transfer income are the two primary determinants influencing the level of rural financial risk in China. Furthermore, we conclude the ranking value of rural financial risk across four regions that the central exhibits the highest level, followed by the West, the East, and finally the Northeast, where the reasons for such ranking results as follows. Firstly, although the highest level of risk among provinces in the West is equivalent to that in the Central, there exists a smaller minimum rural financial risk in the former compared to the latter. Then, it should be noted that there's a low-low agglomeration of rural financial risk in the Northeast, while it demonstrates a high-high agglomeration in the Central according to the Moran Index test analysis. Again, there's a declining trend in rural financial risk disparity within the region and an upward trend is observed when comparing different regions (except the East vs West), especially increase largely between the Northeast and Central in past two years after analyzing the decomposition of Dagum Gini coefficient. Moreover, we study the absolute differences and dynamic evolution in different four regions through three-dimensional diagram of kernel density estimation, and it's found that the change of rural financial risk in four regions moved to the right as a whole, while the tail distribution remains inconspicuous. The absolute difference is diminishing in the Northeast, and the two-level differentiation characteristics tend to weaken as a whole in the Central, with a disordered wave peak height observed in both the East and West. Finally, the article presents pertinent policy implications but limitations according to the research findings.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and Financial Inclusion: Explore How CBDCs Can Promote Financial Inclusion for Unbanked or Underbanked Populations, Considering both Benefits and Challenges

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) offer a promising solution to expand financial inclusion for the unbanked and underbanked populations globally. This paper explores the potential benefits of CBDCs in promoting financial access, including reduced transaction costs, increased accessibility in remote areas, and efficient government transfers. However, challenges like infrastructure limitations, privacy concerns, and regulatory frameworks need to be addressed for successful implementation. The paper examines ongoing pilot projects in Sweden and China, highlighting how these initiatives tailor CBDCs to specific national contexts. By overcoming these challenges and continuing research, CBDCs can become a powerful tool for financial inclusion, fostering economic empowerment and participation.

РЕАЛІЇ ТА НАПРЯМИ ПОКРАЩАННЯ ІНВЕСТИЦІЙ У РОЗВИТОК ПРОФЕСІЙНО-ТЕХНІЧНОЇ ОСВІТИ В КИТАЇ

Introduction. Over the past ten years, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the development of vocational education, improving its quality and optimizing its structure. Problem Statement. Realities and directions for improving investment in the development of vocational education in China. The purpose is to determine the directions of formation of an effective system of financing vocational education in China. Methods. The general scientific and special methods were used: analysis and synthesis, graphic, comparison, theoretical generalization, abstract and logical. Results. Attention is focused on the analysis of the current system of financing vocational education in China and the substantiation of proposals for optimizing its structure and forms, the need to increase non-fiscal sources of investment in its development. The authors analyze the current system of vocational education with Chinese specifics, consisting of secondary vocational education, higher vocational education and vocational education. The authors compare the financing of vocational and other forms of education, as well as the dynamics of changes in state funding per student. The structure of non-fiscal sources of funding for vocational education is analyzed. The uneven distribution of financial allocations of local authorities for vocational education in China is revealed. The effectiveness of measures to manage a special fund to improve the quality of modern vocational education is evaluated. Conclusions. Thus, at the present stage, the Chinese government seeks to build a modern system of vocational education with Chinese characteristics. The result-oriented approach to financing vocational education has been noted. At the same time, the structure of investment in its development is not effective enough. There is also a significant regional stratification of education costs. The author substantiates the need to deepen the interaction of industrial and educational policies in their unity. Transfer payments should be made on the basis of transparency and openness. The revenue structure of various educational funds should be improved.

Government infrastructure investment stimulation through booming natural resources: Evidence from a lower-middle-income country.

The dynamics of central government funding to regions depend on local investments. In regional autonomy, local governments are encouraged to be more self-reliant from the central government. For regions with high natural resource yields, they will not encounter difficulties in meeting their fiscal needs. Community welfare can be realized through fulfilling basic needs, one of which is infrastructure development. High-quality infrastructure will be able to contribute to further progress in trade, thus enhancing production efficiency. The objective of this research is to analyze the extent of the influence of central government transfer funds, especially the Natural Resource Revenue Sharing Funds (DBH SDA), on local government investments in infrastructure across 508 districts/cities in Indonesia. The method used is dynamic panel regression using the Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) Arellano-Bond approach. This study finds that the role of DBH SDA is still low in infrastructure spending. The role of the central government remains significant in determining infrastructure spending at the district/city level in Indonesia. This indicates that local governments rely more on other sectors in infrastructure investment. By enhancing the role of DBH SDA through technological advancements, it is hoped that the market value of natural resources can be higher through resource downstreaming. This strategy will have broader impacts, as labor needs can be absorbed not only in raw material production activities but also in the processing technology sector. Furthermore, the utilization of natural resources with modern technology can increase extraction efficiency, support sustainable development, and minimize environmental impacts.

ESG Performance and Corporate Specialization

Specialized division of labor can help hasten the creation of a new development pattern while also increasing the endogenous power and reliability of the domestic cycle. Based on research data from A-share listed company in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2012 to 2022, this paper develops a two-way fixed-effects model to evaluate the impact of ESG performance on the division of labor specialization. The findings indicate that (1) ESG performance has a positive and significant effect on the division of specialization, and the result remains significant after the robustness and endogeneity tests. (2) ESG performance influences the division of specialization via two channels: governance and knowledge transfer effects. (3) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the aforementioned effects are more pronounced for state-owned enterprises and those in the central and eastern areas. This report contributes to the research on the economic effects of ESG by providing empirical evidence for enterprise specialization.

Human capital of grassroots leaders and vulnerability to poverty: Evidence from rural China

This study examines the impact of the educational level of grassroots leaders on the vulnerability to poverty among villagers in China, using panel data from the National Fixed-Point Survey (NFS) from 2003 to 2015. Our findings indicate that a higher proportion of village cadres with a high school education or above significantly reduces the vulnerability to poverty among rural households in China. We identify two main mechanisms underlying this effect: (1) highly educated village cadres possess greater capabilities in assisting eligible poor households to understand and access government assistance programs, thereby increasing household transfer incomes; and (2) highly educated village cadres can alleviate household vulnerability to poverty by promoting local infrastructure development in the village. These results offer an alternative perspective on targeted poverty alleviation, suggesting that efforts should be directed toward enhancing the human capital level of local grassroots leaders or appointing highly educated leaders in underdeveloped villages.

The impact of household registration system reform: evidence from China

ABSTRACT We construct a DSGE model with three sectors: households which are divided into urban registered residents and non-urban residents, firm, and government, calibrate and estimate the model with data of China. This study aims to evaluate the impact of household registration system (HRS) reform of China, and provides a theoretical thought to understand this reform. Impulse response analysis and counterfactual simulation show the short-term and long-term effects of the reform on output, consumption, and labour supply. The shock (1%) in public goods consumption increases labour supply and private consumption of non-urban registered residents by 0.21% and 0.42%, decreases by about 0.13% and 0.14% in urban registered residents, and increases in overall labour supply, consumption, and output levels by approximately 0.08%, 0.26% and 0.36%, respectively. While the impact of wage level increases labour supply and private consumption of non-urban registered residents by about 0.03% and 0.6%, about 0.03% and 0.25% of urban registered residents. This leads to increases of overall labour supply, consumption, and output levels by approximately 0.03%, 0.28% and 0.12%, respectively. Transfer payment shocks has a very weak effect. Overall, the economic effects of the household registration system reform policy are significant.

Government transfers, municipal financial performance, and access to improved sanitation in urban South Africa

ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of national government transfers and municipal financial performance on access to sanitation in South Africa. The study uses fixed and random effects models to analyse annual panel data for 35 urban municipalities during the period 2005–20. Results show that municipalities require between R12 200 and R14 300 (about US$714 and US$836) from the national government to provide each household unit with access to a flush toilet. This figure is lower in smaller urban municipalities, which require between R8 404 and R10 205 (about US$492 and US$597). Equally, smaller urban municipalities require fewer surpluses to provide households with flush toilets compared to metropolitan municipalities. These results have implications for the level of national government spending and municipal financial performance needed to address sanitation backlogs. Thus, the study contributes to the ongoing discussion on the feasibility of developing countries attaining SDG 6 targets by 2030.

Valorization of cocoa pod side streams improves nutritional and sustainability aspects of chocolate

Chocolate production faces nutritional, environmental and socio-economic challenges present in the conventional cocoa value chain. Here we developed an approach that addresses these challenges by repurposing the often-discarded pectin-rich cocoa pod endocarp and converting it into a gel. This is done using cocoa pulp juice concentrate to replace traditional sugar from sugar beets. Although swelling of fibres, proteins and starches can limit gel incorporation, our proposed chocolate formulation contains up to 20 wt% gel. It also has comparable sweet taste as traditional chocolate while offering improved nutritional value with higher fibre and reduced saturated fatty acid content. A cradle-to-factory life cycle assessment shows that large-scale production of this chocolate could reduce land use and global warming potential compared with average European dark chocolate production. The process also provides opportunities for diversification of farmers’ income and technology transfer, offering potential socio-economic benefits for cocoa-producing regions.

Evaluating Budget Functions for Effective Revenue and Expenditure Planning in Hulu River South District

The public sector budget has a function as a local financial management planning tool. BPKPD district of Hulu River South is an institution that carries out the duties of the local government in the planning of the regional budget. This study is aimed at finding out the application of budget functions as a tool for planning income and expenditure in the BPKPD district of Hulu River South. This study uses a method of quantitative research using a descriptive approach. The study uses three types of measurement analysis to find out the use of budget function as a planning tool, namely, the process of budgeting, the level of effectiveness of budget income, and the degree of efficiency as well as deviations in budget expenditures. The income budget effectiveness rate for 2022 reached 118.60% (more than 100%) with the category of highly effective, coming from three types of regional income. First, Regional Real Income with an efficiency ratio of 87.51% belongs to the effective category. Second, Transfer income with an effectiveness rate of 119.82% belonging to the highly efficient category. The calculation of the expenditure efficiency ratio showed less efficient access, with a ratio of 93.06%. Operations purchases obtained a rate of 75.92% in the efficient category. Capital purchases gained access to efficiency ratios of 91.41%, including the less effective category. Unexpected expenditures reached the rate of efficiency of 17.92%, in the highly efficient categories. Lastly, the transfer spending sector has an efficiency rate of 99.81% in the less efficient category. Secondly, the calculation of the variance analysis in the regional spending sector shows that the entire account in the local spending area has more variance. No spending account has a budget deficit as a result of the realization or achievement of greater income than estimated. The deviation that occurs on the entire account of the shopping sector is favorable.

Can China’s transfer payment in national key ecological function zones promote green poverty reduction? Quasi-natural experiment evidence from China

Can China’s transfer payment in national key ecological function zones promote green poverty reduction? Quasi-natural experiment evidence from China

Economic geography of talent migration and agglomeration in China: A dual-driver framework

The long-standing debate on the role of economic factors and amenities on talent migration and redistribution foreshadows the importance of spatial economic theoretical thinking in resolving the effects of duality, a point yet to be conclusively addressed in the existing literature. Situated within the framework of new economic geography (NEG), this article introduces an innovative theoretical model – the Dual-Driver (DD) framework– aiming at comprehending the nuanced dual impact of economic and amenity factors on talent movements between regions. While the DD framework retains the mechanisms of increasing returns to scale, iceberg transportation cost, and talent agglomeration presented in the NEG models, it depicts, for the first time, the self-reinforcing mechanisms between non-traded goods (i.e., amenities) and talent agglomeration. The model describes a logic of talent movements influenced by the dual drivers of regional economic factors (nominal wage, the diversity of local manufacturing products) and amenities (the diversity and quality of amenities, transfer payment for talent), among which the economic effects play a predominant role versus the amenity effects. Empirical evidence has been given by the geographical analysis of China's internal talent migration between 2000 and 2015 and the corresponding econometric analysis using the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML) estimation. Our findings furnish a theoretical perspective for comprehending talent geography and offer policy insights into China's logic of talent migration.

Expanding access to identification cards and social programs: Experimental evidence from Panamá

AbstractWe experimentally analyze the effects of an intervention to induce the renewal of identification cards on access to a government social program in Panamá. On‐time renewals and access to government transfers increased by 10 and 3.6 percentage points, respectively. Simple reminders about expiration dates generated larger effects than also enabling individuals to renew their documents through an online platform, which users struggled to use despite its being designed to simplify the process. The results suggest that increasing access to identity documentation can reduce exclusion errors in social programs and that simply granting access to e‐government platforms may not necessarily improve public service delivery.

Shaping Strict Migrant Policies through Housing Strategies in Denmark

In Denmark, approximately one million people reside in public housing. This sector encompasses over half of all “immigrants and their descendants from non-Western countries “. Educational attainment and employment rates among public housing residents are notably lower than the na-tional average, and a significant proportion rely on transfer income (Landsbyggefonden, 2022). In 2020, the Housing and Planning Authority designated 25 public housing areas as 'disadvantaged residential areas.' According to the Ministry of Housing, these areas are beset by several chal-lenges, including higher unemployment rates, lower educational levels, increased criminal activity, a predominance of residents with only basic education, and substantially lower incomes compared to the broader population (Bolig- og Planstyrelsen, 2020). The political strategy for addressing these disadvantaged areas has significantly changed in recent years. Since 2018, the Danish parliament, supported by a broad majority, has implemented the Parallel Society Agreement (PSA). Key elements of the PSA include mandatory childcare from age one for children in these areas, a prohibition on individuals receiving transfer incomes from relocating to the most severely affected 'ghetto areas,' language assessments for children beginning in kindergarten, and a cap of no more than 40% public housing in these areas. This is to be achieved by demolishing existing public housing and developing new private properties (PSA, 2018). These regulations, unique to areas predominantly inhabited by ethnic minorities, prompt questions about whether this represents a singular approach to housing policy or a continuation of practices that have been evolving since the 1980s with the increase in labor and refugee migration. This article will demonstrate, through policy document analysis and three case studies in Denmark, how politicians and the media construct a narrative that ethnic minorities in disadvantaged housing areas, often labeled as ghetto areas, lack the desire for cultural interaction and integration with the wider Danish society. This perception paves the way for legal and administrative practices that systematically discriminate against ethnic minorities, illustrating how housing policy is intricately connected to migration policy in Denmark.