基础设施投资与经济发展研究.pdf

URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING
AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN CHINA1
Weiping Wu2
L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
monwealth University
Abstract: Research points to a strong association between infrastructure investment and
­economic performance. Despite China’s great strides in providing basic services, there is increas-
ing disparity among cities of different regions in their ability and performance to finance infra-
structure development. Such unevenness has a long-term effect on urban economic growth. This
study explores patterns and the expanding range of mechanisms for urban infrastructure financing
in general and across the country’s regions. It also investigates whether and how infrastructure
investment is related to urban economic performance, using lagged variables to demonstrate both
short- and medium-term effects. It is clear that such investment has responded to past unmet
demands and paved the way for future growth. [Key words: public investment, urban infrastruc-
ture, urban economic performance, fiscal decentralization, China.]
Infrastructure has an indispensable, positive role in development, especially urban
infrastructure (., Kessides, 1993; Ingram and Kessides, 1994; World Bank, 1994; Azizi,
1995; Estache and Fay, 2007). Besides its function of raising the productivity of labor
and capital as an “unpaid factor of production,” infrastructure contributes to the welfare
of households (Kessides, 1993, p. 2). A strong positive relationship also exists between
measures of urban infrastructure, especially water and sanitation, and per-capita gross
domestic product (GDP; World Bank, 1999). Moreover, research indicates that subnational
units or regions that have invested in infrastructure tend to have greater productivity, more
private investment, and higher employment growth (Munnell, 1990; Cutanda and Paricio,
1994).
Rapid urbanization during China’s reform period has resu