Administrative and Financial Reform under the Decentralization in German Local Governments

本课题以德国新公共管理模式--Das Neue SteuerungsModelell为研究对象，探讨了该模式的理论背景、在德国市政中的应用以及改革过程中存在的问题。通过在本项目期间对德国部分市政当局和研究机构的询问，我得到了以下结果：1.虽然许多市政当局的改革是出于财政困难的动机，但改革实际上并没有对财政状况的改善做出贡献。相反，财政困难往往阻碍推动行政改革。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。目前的改革在制定战略性地方政策、提高服务质量、控制效果和效率及其反馈和下放行政机构等方面取得了成功。这项改革有时与德国的宪法国家原则相抵触，特别是在联邦法律对市政当局负有义务的事项上，例如社会援助。市政当局常常对这一领域的改革感到困难，因为它们的能力和自由裁量权是幸运的。针对这一问题，联邦和州政府尝试了一些试点项目，在法律中增加了试验性条款，并着眼于未来对法律的修改。本研究以新制度经济学的分析工具--交易费用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，改革还必须延伸到收入和支出的联系上。地方税改革似乎不可避免地提上了议事日程。

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.