Administrative and Financial Reform under the Decentralization in German Local Governments

本项目以德国新公共管理模式“Das Neue Steuerungsmodell”为研究对象，探讨该模式产生的理论背景、在德国市政当局的应用以及改革过程中存在的问题。在这个项目期间，通过对德国一些市政当局和研究机构的询问，我得到了以下结果：虽然许多城市的改革是出于财政困难的动机，但改革实际上无助于财政状况的改善。相反，财政困难往往阻碍了行政改革的推进。这是由改革模式的目的造成的：这种改革模式旨在实现行政程序的现代化和合理化。当前的改革在地方战略政策的制定、服务质量的提高、效果和效率的控制、行政组织的反馈和分权等方面取得了成功。这种改革有时与德国的宪政原则相矛盾，特别是在联邦法律对市政当局有义务的事项上，例如社会援助。市政当局常常感到改革这一领域的困难，因为他们的能力和判断力很幸运。针对这一问题，联邦政府和州政府尝试了一些试点项目，在法律中加入了实验性条款，旨在对法律进行前瞻性的修订。本项目以新制度经济学的分析工具——交易成本理论和委托代理关系理论作为改革模型的理论背景。根据这些理论，改革还必须扩展到收入和支出之间的关系。地方税收改革似乎不可避免地会提上议事日程。

This project investigated on "Das Neue Steuerungsmodell", a German model of New Public Management, inquiring the theoretical background of the model, its application to German municipalities and problems on the process of the reform. With the inquiring at some municipalities and research organizations in Germany during this term of project, I have got the following results :1. Although the reform in many municipalities are motivated by financial difficulties, the reform actually doesn't contribute to the improvement of financial situation. On the contrary the financial difficulties often prevent from driving the administrative reforms. It is caused by the purpose of the reform model : this reform model aims at the modernization and rationalization of administrative processes. The reform at the moment succeeds in the making of strategic local policy, improvement of the quality of services, controlling of the effect and efficiency and its feedback and decentralization of administrative organization.2. This reform sometimes contradicts to the principle of constitutional state in Germany, especially in the matters that are obligated by federal laws to municipalities, e.g. social assistance. Municipalities often feel difficulties the reform of such an area, because of the luck of their competence and discretion. Concerning this problem the federal and state governments attempt some pilot projects, adding to the laws the experimental clauses, and aim at the prospective amendments of the laws.3. This project paid attention to the theories of transaction cost and principal-agent relationship, analytical apparatuses of the New Institutional Economics, as the theoretical background of the reform model. According to these theories the reform must be extend also to the connection between revenue and expenditure. It seems inevitable, that local tax reform proceeds on the agenda.