china is currently at an important stage of socio-economic transformation and public governance transition. in this transition phase, it is critical to study the functions and role of the government in the market economy as it may enable the market to allocate resources more efficiently, allow the government to fulfill its role better, and promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. we define the mission of the center using three concepts: "public economics", "public finance", and "governance". public economics and governance are core elements of public management and are already well defined. the traditional concept of public finance refers to government budgeting activities in a given fiscal period. a broadly concept of public finance refer to financial activites undertaken by public entities encluding government organs.to improve governance capabilities, it is foundational to establish a public finance system that is open, transparent, accountable, and governed by law. yet, the existence of market imperfections calls for the public sector to participate and intervene in financial markets through various means, exerting long-term impacts on resource allocation. such activities constitute the main component of public financial activities. the international academic community has conducted thorough research on classical "public finance" and narrower "private finance" activities, but discussions on "public finance" are still insufficient.
given this backdrop, the school of public policy and management at tsinghua university established the "center for public economics, finance, and governance research, tsinghua sppm" in march 2014. the aim of the center is to systematically study the theoretical issues related to public economics, public finance, and governance in china's transition process, and to propose public policy recommendations.
the center is guided and advised academically by an academic committee composed of outstanding scholars and experts in relevant fields from both domestic and international institutions. it selects researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students from tsinghua university, as well as universities and research institutions at home and abroad to form a research team that conducts independent research and writes policy recommendation reports on issues of significant importance. it also selects and funds a number of key research topics on an irregular basis, collaborates on the editing of the journal "chinese finance," and distributes research results through academic seminars, the publication of academic papers, and postings on the center's website.
contact information
center for public economics, finance, and governance research, tsinghua sppm
address: school of public policy and management, tsinghua university, no. 1, tsinghua yuan, haidian district, beijing, 100084