集权改革、城镇化与义务教育投入的城乡差距———基于刘易斯二元经济结构模型的分析

Centralization，Urbanization，and the Rural-Urban Gap in Compulsory Education Finance: Empirical Analysis Based on Lewis Model

Applying the Lewis model to 1993-^010 provincial-level panel data， this study systematically analyzed the rural-urban gap in compulsory education finance and its evolution mechanism in nearly 20 years. Results show that the rural-urban gap in compulsory education finance increased first and then declined quickly， especially after 2000，which could be largely attributed to centralization-oriented reforms on the rural compulsory education finance system and to education urbanization. However， rapid education urbanization， while decreasing the student-teacher ratio and thus raising the education cost in rural areas， also made urban schools and classrooms much more crowded than before. To avoid this dilemma and promote a balanced and coordinated development of education， we should steadily push forward new urbanization， continue to transfer part of the rural compulsory education fiscal responsibility to the upper governments， and adjust funding formulae according to the corresponding cost in both rural and urban areas.