Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38032928›Full record

ArticlePloS one2023

Balancing fiscal expenditure competition and long-term innovation investment: Exploring trade-offs and policy implications for local governments.

Song Wenjuan, Kai Zhao

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Song WenjuanSchool of Business Administration, Wuhan Business University, Wuhan, China.ORCID 0009-0000-1672-057X
Kai ZhaoSchool of Economy, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The mobility of economic factors across jurisdictions has led to increased fiscal competition among decentralized subnational governments. This study examines the relationship between fiscal competition and long-term investment in innovation at the local government level. Panel data analysis, encompassing expenditures, taxes, and innovation inputs from 18 municipalities over a 10-year period, is employed using fixed effects regression. The results reveal a negative correlation between fiscal competition and expenditure on innovation, indicating that intensified competition for mobile capital diverts resources away from essential long-term investments crucial for knowledge-driven growth. Even after controlling for economic and institutional factors, a one standard deviation increase in competition corresponds to an average decline of 25% in per capita innovation investment. These findings highlight the unintended trade-off resulting from heightened competition and underscore the need for policy frameworks that promote localized flexibility while curbing uncoordinated competition that undermines innovation capacity. While fiscal decentralization aims to foster competitive governance, this study provides empirical evidence that short-term expenditure incentives often displace long-term innovation objectives without sufficient coordination. The insights contribute significant empirical evidence on the concealed costs of fiscal competition for regional development. Consequently, a re-evaluation of conventional perspectives on decentralization and competition is warranted, emphasizing the importance of developing cooperative policy solutions that strike a delicate balance between decentralized decision autonomy and strategic coordination. Adopting such an approach is essential to fully leverage the advantages of competitive governance while simultaneously nurturing innovation ecosystems.

Indexed as

Health ExpendituresLocal GovernmentChinaCitiesEconomic DevelopmentEcosystemPolicyPolitics

Identifiers

PMID38032928
PMCPMC10688751

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.