Fiscal Decentralization, Chinese Style: Good for Health Outcomes?

This study analyzes the effect of fiscal decentralization on health outcomes in China using a panel data set with nationwide county-level data. We find that counties in more fiscal decentralized provinces have lower infant mortality rates compared to those counties in which the provincial government retains the main spending authority, if certain conditions are met. Spending responsibilities at the local level need to be matched with county government's own fiscal capacity. For those local governments that have only limited revenues, their ability to spend on local public goods such as health care depends crucially upon intergovernmental transfers. The findings of this study thereby support the common assertion that fiscal decentralization can indeed lead to more efficient production of local public goods, but also highlights the necessary conditions to make this happen.

Differences in Technology Transfers to China Among European and Japanese Elevator Companies

This report analyzes technology transfers and education for local engineers within overseas subsidiaries of Japanese and European companies that have advanced into China, and examines differences among them. Based on the assumption that if the quality of trained local engineers is different, the international division of labor is also different, I aim to clarify how they are different.

Measuring Fiscal Decentralization in the Philippines

This paper focuses on the fiscal decentralization in the Philippines after the 1991 Local Government Code. It first examines the intergovernmental fiscal relationship between central and local governments by using fiscal decentralization indicators, and then investigates its impact on local finance. After fiscal decentralization, the local expenditure responsibility is expanded while the local fiscal capacity is not strengthened in the Philippines. Local governments consequently comes to depend heavily on fiscal transfers from the central government, internal revenue allotments (IRAs), which has a substantial influence on local finance. The heavy dependence on IRAs makes local finance unpredictable and unstable. The distribution of IRAs also affects the horizontal balance between provincial governments.

What best transfers knowledge? : capital, goods, and innovative labor in East Asia

This paper compares three knowledge carriers—trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), and inventors—as knowledge mediums, and investigates their effects on knowledge flow in East Asia from 1996 to 2010. Using patent citations as a proxy for knowledge flow, this paper shows that FDI and inventor mobility have positive effects on increasing patent citations in East Asia when the technological portfolios of two countries are less similar. While trade shows statistical significance, the effect is inconsistent according to the regression models.