How to Measure the Size of Governments?

How to Measure the Size of Governments?

I. The Number of Government Workers

Hard to define the government workers sometimes.

When we rely more on , less on labor force,

it would the importance of government.

Although for many purposes the number of

public sector employees is useful information,

it does not cast the light on the central issue –

the extent to which society resources are

subject to control by government.

I. The Number of Government Workers

II. Government Units

For Census Bureau statistical purposes, a “government” is

defined as an organized entity subject to public accountability,

whose officials are popularly elected or are appointed by

public officials, and which has sufficient discretion in the

management of its affairs to distinguish it as separate from the

administrative structure of any other government unit.

Source: http://www.census.gov/govs/cog/2002COGprelim_report.pdf#search='government%20units%20in%202002

II. Government Units

The Census Bureau recognizes the following basic types of governments:

Federal government State government Local governmentCountiesMunicipalitiesTownshipsSchool districtsSpecial districts

U.S. Government Units : 1957 to 2007 YearNumbers

1957 1962 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992 1997 2002 2007

Total 102,392 91,236 81,299 78,269 79,913 81,831 83,237 86,743 87,504 87,900 89,527

Federal government

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

State governments

48 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50

Local governments

102,343 91,185 81,248 78,218 79,862 81,780 83,186 86,692 87,453 87,849 89,476

General purpose:

County 3,050 3,043 3,049 3,044 3,042 3,041 3,042 3,043 3,043 3,034 3,033

Subcounty 34,415 35,141 35,153 35,508 35,684 35,810 35,891 35,962 36,001 35,937 36,011

Municipal 17,217 17,997 18,048 18,517 18,862 19,076 19,200 19,296 19,372 19,431 19,492

Township 17,198 17,144 17,105 16,991 16,822 16,734 16,691 16,666 16,629 16,506 16,519

Special purpose:

School district 50,454 34,678 21,782 15,781 15,174 14,851 14,721 14,556 13,726 13,522 13,051

Special district 14,424 18,323 21,264 23,885 25,962 28,078 29,532 33,131 34,683 35,356 3,033

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/state_local_govt_finances_employment/governmental_units.html

II. Government Units

Remarks:

There were government units in the United

States as of June 30, 2007.

From 1957 to 2007, the number of government units in

the US first, and then later. This

change mainly comes from “ ”.

The level government, the change of the

number of units.

III. The Amount of Public Expenditure

The total spending of all branches of government and of other

agencies in the public sector, including three basic types:

–

–

–

所謂公共支出（ public/government expenditure ）是指政府提供各項財貨與勞務過程中，耗用社會資源所需要支付的費用。

III. The Amount of Public Expenditure

The Facts of Government Expenditure

1. The Trend Nominal and real term Per capita Percentage of GDP

2. The Change of Its Composition – Before v.s. Now3. By Jurisdiction4. International Comparison5. Taiwan’s Case

Government Expenditure in the US, 1960-2012(Federal + State and Local Governments)

Year 1964 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2012

Nominal 159 295 847 1,880 2,906 3,916 5,489

Real 814 1,213 1,771 2,601 3,275 3,916 4,757

Note: Real Gov’t Expenditure is inflation-adjusted to the year of 2005.Source: Economic Report of the President 2013, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/ERP-2013/pdf/ERP-2013.pdf

Year 1964 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2012

Dollars 4,239 5,914 7,778 10,396 11,598 13,231 15,136

Note: Real Gov’t Expenditure is inflation-adjusted to the year of 2005.Source: Economic Report of the President 2013, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/ERP-2013/pdf/ERP-2013.pdf

Year 1964 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2012

% 24.0 28.4 30.3 32.4 29.2 31.0 35.0

In recent years, the government spending of GDP has remained roughly constant, about 35.0%.

Source: Economic Report of the President 2013, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/ERP-2013/pdf/ERP-2013.pdf

Us Federal Budget – Receipts & Expenditure (Billions)

Although total government spending has increased

substantially as a percentage of GDP since the 1950s,

the growth in the various components of spending has

not been even, thus, the of spending has

changed significantly during the same period.

The Composition of Government Spending

Composition of Federal Expenditure: 1965 v.s. 2008

Source: Rosen and Gayer, Public Finance, 9th edition, Figure 1.2, page 11.

Remarks: 

National defense was the largest share of government spending,

but its relative importance has fallen over time.

Social Security now is the largest spending item.

Medicare and Health spending did not even exist in 1965; it

now absorbs above 13.1% of federal expenditure.

Spending on Income Security also increased.

Payments of interest on debt have remained roughly constant as

a proportion of federal expenditure since 1965. They now

account for about 8.4 percent of federal expenditures.

Composition of State and Local Expenditures:1965 v.s. 2005

Source: Rosen and Gayer, Public Finance, 9th edition Figure 1.3, page 11.

Increase in , decline in highways, others relatively remain the same.

Spending by all levels of government increased as a

percentage of GDP, but federal government spending grew

more rapidly than local government spending.

is concentrated on national defense,

international affairs, agriculture, social and income security.

is concentrated on education,

civilian safety and transportation.

Government Spending by Jurisdiction

Spending by Level of Government and Function

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Defense and Veterans

International Affairs and Space

Income and Social Security

Agriculture

General Government and Interest

Total

Health, Hospitals and Medical Care

Housing

Labor Training

Natural Resources

Economic Development

Transportation

Recreation and Cultural

Civilian Safety

Education

Federal State and Local

Source: Neil Bruce, 2nd edition, Figure 1.4, page 11.

U.S. All Level Governments Expenditures (selected years)

1 2 3 4

Total Expenditures

(billions)

2008 Dollars (billions)*

2008 Dollars per capita

Percent of GDP

1960 123 714 3,950 23.3%

1970 295 1,308 6,379 28.4%

1980 843 1,905 8,367 30.2%

1990 1,873 2,804 11,210 32.2%

2000 2,887 3,527 12,487 29.4%

2008 4,723 4,723 15,488 33.1%

*Conversion to 2008 dollars done using the GDP deflatorSource: Calculations based on Economic Report of the President, 2009 [pp. 282,286,325,381].

Source: Refer to Rosen and Gayer, Public Finance, 9th edition 9th edition, Table 1.1, page 9.

Government Spending / GDP – Selected Countries

Government Spending as a Percentage of GDP, 2014

資料來源：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_spending#Government_spending_as_a_percentage_of_GDP

Government Revenue

We will discuss this topic in great detail next semester.

Just a quick look.

Government obtains the funds from three ways:1. 2. 3.

However, most of the current receipts of the government are obtained from .

US Federal, State, and Local Government Tax Revenues by Source, 2011

Federal State Local

Individual Income Tax 47.38 34.41 4.43

Corporate Income Tax 7.86 5.44 1.24

Social Insurance / Retirement 35.55 0 0

Sales and Gross receipts 3.14 48.37 16.10

General Sales Tax 0 31.03 11.32

Selective Sales / Excise Tax 3.14 17.34 4.78

Property Tax 0 1.86 74.21

Others 6.07 7.38 3.73

(Unit: %)

Source: Tax Policy Center (http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=328)

Remark:The federal government relies heavily on individual income taxes, whereas state and local governments rely more heavily on sales and property taxes, respectively.

Composition of Federal Taxes (1965 and 2012)

Social insurance and individual income tax have become more important. Corporate and other taxes have become less important.

Source: Tax Policy Center, http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/index.cfm)

Composition of State and Local Taxes(1965 v.s. 2011)

Individual tax becomes more important; however, property tax gets less important.

Source: Source: United States Census Bureau , http://www.census.gov/govs/qtax/publications.php

Taiwan’s Case

Please check the following report:

“Government Finance in the Republic of China 2014”

中華民國財政 2014, 財政部綜合規劃司

This publication describes the major work of the Ministry of Finance

in the areas of the national treasury, taxation, customs, and national

property. It is published with Chinese and English text. The book

includes detailed information and figures to give our readers a

comprehensive overview of work performed on our national finances.

(http://www.mof.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=77475&ctNode=2856)

各級政府財政歲入歲出淨額

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各級政府財政歲入淨額結構

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民國 102年各級政府歲入淨額，仍以 、營業盈餘及事業收入為主要來源，其中稅課收入所占比重呈現上升趨勢，由 93年之 70.2％上升至102 年之 ％。

各級政府財政歲出淨額結構

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民國 102 年各級政府歲出淨額，以 ____________、 _____________ 及 _____________ 所占比重較大，分別占 22.5 ％、 20.1 ％及 14.8 ％；自 93 年以來，以社會福利支出及教育科學文化支出比重各增加 4.6 與 1.6 個百分點較多，而經濟發展支出及債務支出比重各減少 3.6 和 1.4 個百分點。

資料來源：中華民國財政 2014 －國庫業務

各級政府債務餘額

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2011年各國負債概況

國家 政府公共債務 ( 美金 )

占 GDP 比率

美國 15.2 兆 100%

英國 2.1 兆 83%

日本 14.1 兆 229%

中國 1.2 兆 17%

台灣 0.18 兆 39%資料來源：http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/07/31/business/31debtGraphic.html?ref=economy

中央政府社會安全支出結構

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Tax System in Taiwan

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In total, there are taxes in Taiwan, with national taxes and local government taxes.

Among all taxes, taxes are classified as direct taxes.

89會計年度以前： 國稅 (中央 )和地方稅 (省和直轄市 /縣市 )

89會計年度以後： 國稅 (中央 )和地方稅 (直轄市 /縣市 )

89會計年度以後將原本屬於省稅之 _____________納入國稅。

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89會計年度： 90會計年度：

91會計年度以前： 91會計年度以後：

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Ex：各級政府財政歲入歲出淨額

賦稅收入成長概況

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賦稅收入結構

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民國 102年賦稅收入以 ________占 40.5％最大，較 93年增加 7.6 個百分點，其次為 _________占16.5 ％，較 93 年減少 0.3 個百分點，貨物稅占8.9％，較 93年減少 2.6 個百分點，關稅所占比重亦逐漸降低，顯示賦稅結構已有顯著變化。

主要賦稅收入成長趨勢

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46 單位 : 新台幣拾億元

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The tax structure has changed in recent years.

102 年景氣回溫，稅收增加，與 101 年相較其中土地稅增加 21% ，營業稅增加 7.5% ，關稅增加2.2% ，貨物稅增加 1% ；惟所得稅因 101 年企業獲利不佳之遞延影響，減少 2.3% 。

資料來源：中華民國財政 2014 －賦稅收入

直接稅與間接稅比重

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In the past ten years, due to government efforts in improving the tax structure and in strengthening the collection of income tax each year, revenue from direct taxes as a percentage of total tax revenues has risen.

In CY 2013, total revenues from ______taxes rose to 59.5%, an increase of 3.7 percentage points compared with CY 2004.

賦稅收入之相對百分比

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平均每人稅負及平均每人所得

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選樣國家租稅負擔比較

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