Local Governments'Strategic Behaviors and Fiscal Sustainability:From the Perspective of Tax Cuts,Fee Reductions,and Growth Target Pressure
Fiscal sustainability is a critical issue in China's macroeconomic landscape.This study employs a fiscal response func-tion to measure local government fiscal sustainability(LGFS)and investigates the impact of two distinct strategic behaviors-tax cuts and fee reductions(TCFR)and growth target pressure(GTP)-on LGFS.The findings reveal that TCFR,characterized by the"feeding fish by releasing water"approach,significantly enhances LGFS,while GTP,resembling a"pulling seedlings to help them grow"strategy,significantly undermines it.Mechanism analysis indicates that TCFR and GTP primarily influence LGFS through pathways such as reliance on land finance,changes in the number of incumbent enterprises,and distortions in resource allocation.Moreover,the impact of local governments'strategic behaviors on LGFS exhibits notable heterogeneity based on region-al factors,official turnover,and the level of marketization.Additionally,GTP moderates the effect of TCFR on LGFS.These findings provide policy insights for optimizing the efficiency of TCFR policies,improving growth target management systems,and ensuring LGFS.
Local GovernmentFiscal SustainabilityTax Cuts and Fee ReductionsGrowth Target Pressure
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
