Local fiscal policies have been very effective in China since 2000.
Covid-19 poses unprecedented challenges to the global health and global economy. We are pleased to initiate a series of Covid-19 Public Health and Public Policy Virtual Forums to discuss the impact and policy responses to Covid-19.
In China, citizen participation in environmental governance via social media could significantly improve regulatory effort, leading to substantial environmental benefits.
The Chinese government supports the development of dozens of industries today, but the long-run sustainability of this model depends crucially on policy efficiency.
In 2020, local governments in China began issuing digital coupons to stimulate spending in targeted categories such as restaurants and supermarkets. We find that the coupons caused large increases in spending of 3.1–3.3 yuan per yuan spent by the government. The large spending responses do not come from substitution away from non-targeted spending categories or from short-run intertemporal substitution. We conclude that digital coupons are a cost-effective way to provide targeted fiscal stimulus to specific sectors of the economy.