'Promoting Equality by Disclosure': How Does Fiscal Transparency Affect Income Inequality in China? A Perspective Based on Local Governments' Behaviours.
Income inequality has posed a significant societal challenge to achieving sustainable development in China. Exploring the factors influencing income inequality has long been a research hotspot, but less attention has been given to the role of fiscal transparency. Employing China's city-level panel d...
| Published in: | Journal of Development Studies Vol. 61; no. 8; pp. 1258 - 1275 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Aug2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=186874851&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 186874851 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00220388 JDS jtl: Journal of Development Studies issn: 00220388 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Aug2025 vid: 61 iid: 8 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 186874851 10.1080/00220388.2025.2456918 ppf: 1258 ppct: 17 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T db: hlh ui: 186874851 – @attributes: type: P db: hlh ui: 186874851 tig: atl: 'Promoting Equality by Disclosure': How Does Fiscal Transparency Affect Income Inequality in China? A Perspective Based on Local Governments' Behaviours. aug: au: Liu, Na Chen, Junhua Huang, Boqing Huang, Zhonghua affil: Department of Investment, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China School of Finance, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China School of Public Management, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China su: China Income inequality Local government Corruption Economic policy Sustainable development Transparency in government Federal budget laws sug: subj: Income inequality Local government Corruption Economic policy Sustainable development China Administration of General Economic Programs Transparency in government Federal budget laws keyword: fiscal transparency income inequality local governments' behaviours the 'New Budget Law' fiscal transparency income inequality local governments' behaviours the 'New Budget Law' ab: Income inequality has posed a significant societal challenge to achieving sustainable development in China. Exploring the factors influencing income inequality has long been a research hotspot, but less attention has been given to the role of fiscal transparency. Employing China's city-level panel data, this study reveals that fiscal transparency is negatively associated with income inequality in China, which is conducive to realising the goal of 'Promoting Equality by Disclosure'. The association is achieved mainly by changing local governments' behaviours through optimising the fiscal expenditure structure, inhibiting the excessive expansion of local nontax revenue and curbing local official corruption. A heterogeneity test shows that fiscal transparency has stronger negative associations with income inequality for areas with a sound fiscal status and for China's eastern regions. Furthermore, regarding the 'New Budget Law' conducted in 2015 as a natural experiment, we establish a quasi-difference-in-differences (quasi-DID) model and find that the implementation of this law can significantly optimise the income distribution pattern, demonstrating the necessity and effectiveness of legal constraints in fiscal transparency governance. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|