Why money cannot be spent as budgeted? Lessons from china’s recent budget reforms 1

Datos Bibliográficos

ID20201844
AutoresJun Ma (0000-0003-3412-7766, Sun Yat-sen University), Yu Li (0000-0002-0964-6399, South China Normal University), Li Yu (0000-0002-2267-8547)
Año2012
Volumen24
Número1
Páginas83-113
Fecha de publicación2012-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Public Budgeting Accounting & Financial Management (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1096-3367 • E-ISSN: 1945-1814
EditorialEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/jpbafm-24-01-2012-b005
OpenAlexW2772448555
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas6

To modernize budgeting system is a challenge issue in many developing countries. To some scholars (Schick, 1998a, 1998b; Ma, 2009a), developing countries must first put into place basic budgetary controls before moving to more advanced models of budgeting. This approach of “basic first,” however, is questioned by others (e.g., Andrew, 2006). Drawing on China's recent budget reforms, this essay reconfirms the validity of the “basics first” approach. In China, budget reform since 1999 has begun to install budgetary controls for state finance, leading to an enhancement of budgeting capacity and financial accountability. However, governments at the same time have begun to be plagued by the unexpected problem of delays in spending and the accumulation of significant underexpenditures. Contrary to what many people may believe, we contend that this somewhat odd problem arises not because the new budgeting system has exercised too much control but rather because the new system is not yet effective in exerting budgetary controls

Accountability · China · Economic policy · Economics · Management · Political science · Computer Science · Law · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Public-Private Partnership Projects · Accounting · Finance