National Audit, Media Attention, and Efficiency of Local Fiscal Expenditure: A Spatial Econometric Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data in China

Dingzu Zhang, Xingjie Shen and Cong Peng ()
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Dingzu Zhang: School of Economics and Management, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
Xingjie Shen: School of Economics and Management, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
Cong Peng: School of Economics and Management, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha 410004, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-24

Abstract: Improving the efficiency of local fiscal expenditure is an important way to swiftly mitigate local fiscal risks according to the current economic situation. Based on the provincial panel data of 30 provinces in mainland China (except Tibet Autonomous Region) from 2007 to 2018, a Tobit spatial error model was constructed to test the impact of national auditing on local fiscal expenditure efficiency and to investigate the intermediary role of media attention. Findings show that the disclosing, resisting, and preventing functions of the national audit significantly improve local fiscal expenditure efficiency. Media attention does play an intermediary role, indicating that the information transmission function of the national audit has governance effects. Coupling of the national audit and media attention also positively affects local fiscal expenditure efficiency. This research expands the mechanism of national audits, as they affect the efficiency of local fiscal expenditure; it also provides new empirical evidence for improving such efficiency while mitigating fiscal risks at the local level.

Keywords: national audit; local fiscal expenditure efficiency; media attention; disclosure of national audit results (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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