Legal Regulation of Allocation Relationships: A Research Perspective Based on Economic Law

Author: Meng Qingyu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Under the condition that the survival and development of human beings cannot be completely free from the limitations or constraints of the finiteness or scarcity of environmental resources and social products, a country's choice and establishment of an allocation system, the formation and maintenance of an allocation relationship and order, will directly determine the rational flow, optimal allocation, and efficient utilization of limited social resources, directly affect the vital interests of the majority of social entities in their survival and development, and directly impact a country's social stability, security, and progress. In today's China, which has undergone more than two decades of reform and development and has seen fundamental changes in its socio-economic life, the rapid growth of the national economy and the swift increase in the total volume of social wealth have not achieved the universal improvement of the social well-being of all citizens. Instead, people are facing a series of social distribution inequalities, such as the further widening of the income gap between urban and rural residents under economic growth, the severe difficulties faced by vulnerable groups in meeting their basic survival needs, and the serious imbalance in socio-economic development across regions. As a concentrated reflection of material interest relationships, the fairness of distribution and the extent to which fairness is achieved are fundamentally determined by the equality of distribution premises, the fairness of distribution rules, the orderliness of the distribution process, and the rationality of distribution outcomes, with the key being the distribution rules or distribution system. Therefore, introducing distribution into the research scope of law, especially economic law, holds positive and significant importance both in terms of innovation in distribution theory and in the reform of distribution systems. This thesis focuses on the realization of the goal of social distribution justice, the innovation of distribution system theory and practice, and begins with a legal analysis of distribution relationships, following a research path from the abstract to the concrete, from the general to the specific, and from theory to practice. It systematically studies the legal regulation of distribution relationships in five levels: Introduction, Value Theory, Mechanism Theory, System Theory, and Application Theory.
In the Introduction, the author analyzes the legal significance of distribution relationships by examining the rich economic connotations of distribution in various aspects, such as its manifestation in phenomenon, economic processes, and allocation patterns or outcomes, as well as its role and function in macro and micro economic operations and social reproduction, and its connection with social production relations. It specifically points out that a distribution relationship refers to a social relationship between distribution subjects and distribution recipients based on the division and allocation of distribution objects, which varies in content and form depending on the nature of the state, social system, economic system, and the status, responsibilities, and authority of the relationship subjects in the distribution process. At its core, a distribution relationship manifests as a relationship of resource or property division and possession between the state, enterprises, and individual residents at the economic level; as a relationship of interest division and coordination between distribution relationship subjects at the social level; and as a relationship of power and rights division and constraint between them at the legal level. Such property and interest distribution relationships require the intervention and regulation of law, especially economic law. Based on the special status and functional advantages of economic law in regulating distribution relationships, the proper allocation of power and rights within economic law is the process by which economic law regulates and adjusts property and interest relationships.
In the Value Theory section, based on the premise of the systematic existence of legal values in jurisprudence, the author first analyzes the multifaceted nature of justice as the highest value pursuit of law, and then examines the relationship between distribution justice, as the eternal value goal of law in the field of social distribution, and specific value goals such as equality, freedom, fairness, and efficiency. Then, through a historical examination of distribution justice under different socio-economic conditions, it is proposed that in ancient social systems, order and security were given prominent status, while freedom and equality were reduced in importance. In the capitalist era, the value of freedom and efficiency in distribution justice becamely elevated and effectively realized. Under socialist planned economies, distribution justice was in a severely distorted state of "egalitarianism." Even in the international context of economic and trade globalization and integration, distribution justice exhibits clear national differences under the socio-economic legal systems of different types of countries. Finally, with the promotion and safeguarding of social distribution justice as the overarching goal of legal regulation of distribution relationships, a basic principle system for distribution legal institutions, as well as the selective application of these principles in different distribution legal institutions, is constructed, with the content of equality, efficiency, fairness, and order.
In the Mechanism Theory section, the author aims to establish and construct the functional mechanisms of legal regulation of distribution relationships, proposing a path that involves the allocation mechanisms of distribution rights among all social entities, including the state, enterprises, and individual residents, and within them. First, starting with the legal definition of distribution rights as the core category of distribution legal institutions, the author analyzes in detail the characteristics, types, nature, and departmental of distribution rights, proposing the state distribution power, including the planned regulation right of national income distribution, state financial distribution power, taxation power, financial regulation power, and price distribution intervention power, as the main content of state distribution power, as well as the distribution rights, including enterprise income distribution rights and individual income distribution rights. Then, it specifically analyzes the allocation models and operational mechanisms of distribution rights among different subjects and within them, as well as across different geographical spaces. However, this legal allocation structure and operational mechanism of distribution rights are often influenced and constrained by internal factors such as the interests of enterprise subjects and their distribution rights advantages, the struggle strength of labor interest subjects and the correction of distribution rules, the power and distribution system of the state and their adaptive adjustments, as well as external factors such as technological progress, institutional environment, and ideology.
In the System Theory section, the author briefly analyzes the main relational factors influencing the choice of distribution systems and comprehensively constructs a system of institutional guarantees for state distribution rights, enterprise distribution rights, and individual distribution rights. Regarding the institutional guarantee system of state distribution rights, it includes state planning legal institutions, state budget legal institutions, tax legal institutions, fiscal expenditure legal institutions, financial regulation legal institutions, and state price distribution legal institutions. Among these, the social distribution function of planning legal institutions should receive attention and recognition both theoretically and practically. This system should prioritize ensuring the scientific nature of national income distribution plans and focus on the establishment of procedural institutions for the compilation, decision-making, implementation, and adjustment of national income distribution plans. The state budget legal institutions have a typical attribute of distribution law, with the functional mechanisms and basic paths for adjusting distribution relationships concentrated in the rational allocation of state budget distribution rights, including the compilation, deliberation and decision-making, and execution rights of the state budget, across different state organs in two dimensions: vertical and horizontal. The balance of state budgets and its maintenance, the institutional choice and innovation of state budget methods, and the institutional guarantee of the scientificity and democracy of state budget activities are key issues in the design and arrangement of state budget legal institutions. The social distribution function of tax legal institutions is highly prominent, with the rational allocation of tax power among the state, enterprises, and individual residents, and within them, constituting the functional mechanism of tax legal institutions in adjusting distribution relationships. On the premise of fully recognizing the boundaries and limitations of tax law in adjusting distribution relationships, the selection of tax structure types and their influencing factors, the allocation of tax types, the selection of tax sources, and the determination of tax rates are key issues in tax law creation. The fiscal expenditure system is a concentrated expression of the redistribution of national income, with government procurement and social welfare expenditure systems constituting its main content. The financial regulation system realizes the distribution of total national income through the intervention of the central bank in money, but it does not directly affect the distribution structure. Maintaining the independence of the central bank constitutes a key issue in central bank legal institutions. The state price distribution system adjusts distribution relationships through intervention in supply and demand laws or the influence on supply and demand, but attention should be paid to the operational boundaries of state intervention systems. Regarding the institutional guarantee system of enterprise distribution rights, the profit distribution system scattered in relevant enterprise laws constitutes its basic content. Among these, the company, as a focal point of the interests of multiple subjects, the establishment of profit distribution principles and the selection of profit distribution models constitute the basic guarantee for the realization of company distribution rights. State-owned enterprises, as a special form of state direct intervention in economic life, are influenced or constrained by the specific economic systems promoted by different countries. The flexible profit distribution system within partnerships and individual enterprises ensures the survival and development of these transitional forms of enterprise organization. Regarding the institutional guarantee system of individual distribution rights, the legal institutions that ensure individuals obtain corresponding income through labor, investment, management, and the satisfaction of basic living needs constitute its main content. Among these, the labor income distribution system is the basic legal guarantee for every laborer to obtain income, with the realization methods of distribution according to labor and the legislative provisions for regulating labor conditions constituting its basic institutional content. For property owners, property ownership constitutes the sole legitimate basis for their share and possession of property income. The professionalization of managers is the direct impetus for the legalization of management income forms, with opportunity income and risk income being the basic forms of management income. The rightization of social security ensures that every social entity can obtain material guarantees for maintaining their basic survival when facing social risks.
In the Application Theory section, the author briefly reviews the changes in distribution systems in China's historical development, especially conducts an empirical analysis and evaluation of the pros and cons of social distribution since the reform and opening-up. On this basis, it comprehensively analyzes the legal roots of social distribution inequalities in China, clearly pointing out that the improper allocation and exercise of distribution rights are the root causes of legal system distribution inequalities. The imperfect distribution system, the lack of supervision in the operational process, and the large amount of distribution outside the system are important legal roots leading to income distribution inequalities. Meanwhile, the dual legal system arrangement of urban and rural areas, the inadequate adjustment of interests and legal redress during institutional changes, and the unbalanced supply of legal systems across the country are the legal roots leading to the widening income gap between urban and rural areas, the emergence of relatively poor and special vulnerable groups, and the unfair distribution of income across regions. On this basis, the author proposes an overall approach to the reform and innovation of China's distribution system. First, the renewal of distribution concepts at the institutional value level, with the key being the unity of the concept of distribution justice both inside and outside the system, the harmonious coexistence of different value goals of distribution systems, and the realization of the efficiency goals of distribution systems themselves. Second, the legal institutional coordination for the rationalization of the social distribution pattern, mainly manifested as the coordination of distribution legal institutions for the interest distribution relationship between the state, enterprises, and individual residents, the rationalization of distribution relationships between the central and local governments, and the intervention and correction of horizontal distribution relationships. Third, the development and improvement of state distribution systems, including the reform of the state budget distribution system in terms of the principle of balance, unified budget systems, improved double-entry budgeting, and strengthened budget supervision; the reform of the state tax distribution system in terms of achieving tax fairness, coordinating tax revenue distribution relationships, promoting tax system reform, and ensuring the implementation of tax law; and the reform of fiscal expenditure distribution systems in terms of establishing public finance goals, adjusting fiscal expenditure structures, compressing fiscal expenditure scales, strengthening fiscal expenditure supervision, and improving the efficiency of fiscal fund utilization. Finally, the author proposes countermeasures or suggestions for the reform and development of the distribution system in China, focusing on outstanding issues in social distribution, such as the income distribution gap between urban and rural residents, the relief of special vulnerable groups, and the coordination of balanced development among the eastern, central, and western regions.