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Given that all the governments in modern countries have put stress on service performance and quality, the role played by local governments is increasingly important. The main reason is that localization can provide a region with practical needs, so as to improve citizens¡¦ living quality. At the same time, with local decentralization, local governments can create respective regional distinctions and industrial cultures and learn from mutual competition. In the end, their citizen service performance will be further elevated reinforced. Currently, governments¡¦ functions have been expanding, which results in continuing increase in expenditures. Thus, financial decentralization has become a trend of modern countries, in which local governments have to have sufficient finance in order to effectively execute policies and plans. At present, our central government has ample financial resources and is in the position to distribute them, which helps the central government promote major policies and brings about local government¡¦s balanced development. However, in a different light, the decentralization of local finance is limited and resource distribution is out of balance. As a result, autonomous tasks have become difficult to be promoted, so the function of local autonomy cannot be well developed. Hence, the rule of thumb for wielding the substantive function of local governance is to elevate the autonomy of local finance. To increase local revenues, the central government passed the General Principles of Local Tax Act and Fee Act in 2002 to legalize the increase of local governments¡¦ revenues and give local governments more autonomy on their revenues. To this day, limited by pragmatic politics, the expected goal is hard to be attained in a short run, but, in order to effectively improve local financial plights, strengthen local chiefs¡¦ responsibility for the local finance they are in charge, maintain financial discipline and build the function of authorization management, the General Principles of Local Tax Act shall be fully followed in local governments¡¦ imposition of the special product tax, special tax and provisional tax, so as to improve local finance. The purposes of this study are to describe and analyze local governments¡¦ financial status, better understand the financial problems encountered by county/city governments and explore the goals to be attained for enhancing local finance, so as to put forth a strategy to reinforce financial autonomy. This study uses the research methodology including literature data collection, in-depth interviews and secondary data analysis, in which interviews with 11 financial experts were conducted. The main contents of this study cover the analysis of local financial structure in the dimension of law, comparison of county/city governments¡¦ financial revenue and expenditure, and analysis of Penghu County¡¦s financial revenue, expenditure and autonomy. The study further uncovers current local financial status and the existing problems, so as to put forth a strategy of financial autonomy to enhance local finance and attain the goal of sustainable management. By studying the overall dimension of local finance, this paper has concluded the following: 1. The expenditure structure is stiff, and the ratio of personnel expenses to annual expenses is too high. 2. Local financial autonomy shall be elevated and the subsidy system shall be enhanced. 3. Financial Distribution Act is required to be amended, but it will still not completely solve the financial problems. 4. Private participation in public construction or entrusted operation and development shall be strengthened. 5. Expenses of local non-statutory social welfare inflate and local governments¡¦ financial capacity is deficient. 6. Local governments¡¦ financial deficits have continued year by year, so public debts have also persistently increased. 7. Public property management shall be reinforced, so as to increase local financial revenues. 8. Even though General Principles of Local Tax Act are passed and enforced, their substantive function still cannot be wielded. Under existing statutory laws and regulations, the financial resources of local autonomy show severe shortages, and there are many problems existing amid respective local governments. In order to elevate local financial autonomy, this paper uses Penghu County as an example, and provides recommendations from the aspects of legal systems, policies and management respectively.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-112). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-112). Also available on the Internet.

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

Zugl.: Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 2007 / Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Universität Hamburg, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. [509]-565) and index.

Thesis (M.M.S. Accounting) -- University of Waikato, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-187) Also avaiable via the World Wide Web.

Bibliography: pages 488-519. / This study is based on the assumption that money 'powers the urban system'. Its focus is the geography of public finance in Harare and ideologically inspired change in urban management. The context is the changing circumstances attendant upon the transfer of power from minority White settler colonial rule to Black majority rule in Zimbabwe. The ruling ZANU-PF party professed a continuing ideological commitment to the principles of "Marxist-Leninist-Maoist" socialism. It was surmised that application of these principles to the discharge of urban management and to the provision of public goods and services by a Black City Council would have been reflected in changing trends in the generation, allocation and distribution of public funds. Expressed as an aphorism, the geography of public finance investigates 'who gets what, where; who pays, who benefits, who decides, and who decides who decides'. These issues are addressed in the present study. Annual income and expenditure on both capital and revenue accounts for selected Council operations, were analysed in an attempt to identify significant trends from 1978 to 1984. Analytical methods include regression analysis, tests for statistical significance, multi-variate analysis and shift-share analysis. Local authority organisation and practice in colonial Salisbury is described as a basis for the evaluation of changing patterns of public service delivery after independence. Perceptions of priority issues for the city's growth and development were solicited from Councillors in a structured, open-ended questionnaire, and Council by-laws were analysed for evidence of change in the regulation and control of urban activities. Major findings include: 1. that the accounting procedures employed by the City Council are inappropriate for geographical analysis; 2. that the organisational structure and operational procedures of the Council, particularly with respect to urban finance remain virtually unchanged; 3. that the financial and other data provide evidence of the reallocation and redistribution of public funds to redress the colonial legacy of inequality; but 4. that fundamental structural change consistent with criteria indicating transition to a socialist urban space-economy has not occurred. Evidence is advanced in support of these conclusions and major reasons are suggested.

This research originated on the premise that if the response of various tax bases to changes in tax rates is different, local governments can minimize stress on tax bases by placing differential levels of reliance on these tax bases. Therefore, the objective of this research was to estimate and evaluate short-run and long-run, own- and cross-rate elasticities with respect to the following tax bases: real property (commercial, agricultural, and residential), personal property, and machinery and tools. The analytical model was based on demand theory, and a modified linear approximate Almost Ideal Demand System was used to estimate the elasticities. For the estimation of the long-run elasticities, a partial adjustment model was introduced to the demand system. Data covered 36 counties from Virginia, and covered the period 1981-1985. The results indicated that in the short-run, the value of commercial property had a negative elastic response, while agricultural property had a positive inelastic response. Machinery and tools and residential property values were not significantly affected, but personal property indicated a negative inelastic response for changes in tax rates. The long-run results indicated that elasticity figures become more elastic for commercial property, agricultural property, and personal property while for machinery and tools there was a significant inelastic negative response. With reference to cross-rate elasticities, in the short-run, machinery and tools depicted a complementary relationship with all the other tax bases except residential property. Tax rate changes of commercial property had a substitution relationship with agricultural property. In the long-run, however, machinery and tools were significantly impacted only on tax rate changes on personal property. Changes in the tax rate on machinery and tools had a significant complimentary impact on personal property and commercial property. Agricultural property had a significant substitution effect with respect to all the other tax bases except personal property. Hence, the results indicate that different tax bases respond differently to tax rate changes, which local governments can utilize to maintain or increase tax revenues while reducing the tax burden on tax bases which are very sensitive to tax rate changes. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata