Abstract: Based upon economic thought, the history of China since 1949 can be segmented into 3 major phases, from command through transition to market economy. Each witnesses the political wrangling, as in a principal-agent relationship, between the central and local governments, especially with regard to fiscal distribution. A model of information economics is further built for the purpose of enlightening future policy-making, by concluding the optimized management structure such as the centralized, the decentralized or the one in between.

摘要： 本文透过经济思想史的分析视角，回顾了新中国成立以来财税体制改革的演化路径，涉及到“体制下放”、“财政包干”和“分税制”三个主要阶段。再者基于中央与地方两级政府财税关系中的委托代理特征，构造信息经济学模型进行理论推演，分别得出适应差异化条件下从“集权”、“合作”到“分权”的最优制度安排，并结合“中国经验”的现实案例加以验证、讨论和引申，旨在为下一步改革的目标方向提供方法论指导。