Abstract: How to effectively promote entrepreneurship through government institutional reform is a topic worthy of in-depth study. This paper uses the “Province-Managing-County” reform as a quasi-natural experiment and constructs a staggered difference-in-differences model to empirically examine the impact of fiscal hierarchy reform on entrepreneurial activity. The study finds that the “Province-Managing-County” reform significantly enhances entrepreneurial activity, and the results remain robust. Mechanism analysis reveals that the key channels through which the reform boosts entrepreneurship are through increasing expenditure competition and tax competition among county-level governments, and the improvement of business environment. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive effects of the reform on entrepreneurship are more pronounced in regions where county governments have higher fiscal self-sufficiency, in regions with low marketization level, and in the second industry. The findings of this study provide important insights into how fiscal hierarchy reforms can reshape government behavior, foster entrepreneurship, and promote local economic development.

Key words: Fiscal Decentralization, “Province-Managing-County” Reform, Entrepreneurship, Business Environment

摘要： 为应对就业压力与就业市场结构性矛盾等重大挑战,如何从政府制度改革层面有效推动创业,是一项值得深入研究的议题。本文以“省直管县”改革作为准自然实验,构建交错双重差分模型来实证考察财政层级改革对创业活力的影响。研究发现,“省直管县”改革有助于创业活力的提升,且结论稳健。机制分析发现,“省直管县”改革提升创业活力的核心渠道在于加强县级政府的支出竞争和税收竞争,以及改善营商环境。异质性分析发现,“省直管县”改革对创业活力的积极影响在县级政府财政自给率高、市场化程度较低的地区以及第二产业中更为明显。本文研究结果对于如何通过政府财政层级改革重塑政府行为,以激励创业、推动地方经济发展具有重要启示。

关键词: 财政改革, “省直管县”, 创业, 营商环境