Government Waste in China and Countermeasures
政府浪费与治理对策研究

Hidden in the high administrative expenditures of China is a huge waste incited by overindulgence in official vehicles,energy resources,luxurious office buildings,and in such activities as government conferences,vanity projects,overseas trainings,recreational activities by public funds,etc.The cause of government waste is very complicated and it is the result of many factors including low executive transparency in administrative power,softening of budget constraint,vanity of property rights subjects and responsibilities subjects,existence of a large number of extra budgetary funds,indifference or even neglect on the assessment of administrative costs,and lack of mechanisms for the public bargaining with the government.In response to these causes,six countermeasures have been proposed:quickening the construction of a transparent government;controlling administrative costs as government's working target to solve the problem of vanity of responsibilities subjects for government waste;enhancing budget constraint; introducing corporate cost accounting mechanisms and establishing a sound performance appraisal system;promoting the democratization of fiscal decision-making and forming a mechanism for the public to bargain with the government;establishing an"anti-waste law".