论坛系列：能源经济与低碳治理讲座系列（LLIG202201）

报告题目：

Political Connections and Fiscal Transfer

报告人：

陆毅,清华大学经济管理学院教授

报告地点：

北航新主楼A座622教室

报告时间：

2022年4月14日周四14:00

报告摘要：

Many countries use fiscal transfers to mitigate spatial economic disparities and promote regional growth. However, the distribution of transfers across regions could be influenced by relationships between regional and central officials. We study whether connections between provincial leaders and ministers shape the allocation of intergovernmental transfers in China, and the welfare implications of such allocation. We find that provinces headed by leaders linked to ministers through past workplace and alumni connections receive significantly more central-to-provincial transfers, in regressions that control for provincial leader fixed effects in which the role of shared background is identified through minister turnover. We then use a general equilibrium model with heterogeneous regions, input-output linkages and costly migration and trade to examine the aggregate welfare and inequality implications of such political-connection-influenced transfer allocation. We find that political connections increase aggregate welfare and output through directing fiscal resources to richer provinces, whose leaders tend to be more politically connected. This comes at the cost of widening regional disparities and is contradictory to the major objective of fiscal transfers of balancing regional development.

报告人简介：

陆毅,清华大学经济管理学院教授，经济系系主任，国家级人才计划入选者，首届中国青年经济学家奖获得者。陆毅教授1999年于复旦大学生命科学学院获得学士学位；2003年获得复旦大学管理学院硕士学位；2007年获得香港大学经济工商学院博士学位。先后在香港大学经济工商学院担任研究助理教授，新加坡国立大学经济系担任助理教授和长聘副教授。陆毅教授主要从事国际贸易、公共财政和中国经济领域的研究工作。在国内外一流经济学杂志发表论文数十篇，获得第八届高等学校科学研究优秀成果奖（人文社会科学）等奖项，并主持社科基金重大项目和自科基金面上项目等。目前担任American Economic Journal: Economic Policy编委，Journal of Comparative Economics，China & World Economy和《经济学报》的副主编，清华大学-芝加哥大学经济与金融联合研究中心联合主任，清华大学经济管理学院国际经济研究中心主任，清华大学中国财政税收所副所长，清华大学全球共同发展研究院副院长，清华大学中国经济社会数据研究中心副主任，国家统计局-清华大学数据开发中心副主任，清华大学国有资产研究院副院长。