Legal regulation of allocation relationships

Author: Meng Qingyu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Under the condition that the survival and development of human beings cannot be completely liberated from the limitations or constraints of the finiteness or scarcity of environmental resources and social products, a country's choice and establishment of what kind of distribution system, formation and maintenance of what kind of distribution relationship and distribution order, will directly determine the reasonable 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 20 years 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 general 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 the growth of economic aggregate, the severe difficulties faced by the basic survival needs of the socially disadvantaged groups, and the serious imbalance in social and economic development among different regions. As a concentrated reflection of material interest relationships, the fairness of distribution and the extent to which fairness is achieved are basically 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, is of positive and significant importance both in terms of innovation in distribution theory and in terms of reform in distribution systems. This thesis focuses on the realization of the goal of social distribution justice, the innovation of distribution system theory and practice, and starts 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 adjustment 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 phenomenal form, economic processes, and allocation patterns or outcomes, as well as its status and role in macro and micro economic operations and social reproduction, and its connection with social production relations. It specifically points out that distribution relationships refer to the social relationships that arise between distribution subjects and distribution recipients based on the division and allocation of distribution objects, and that these relationships vary in content and form depending on the nature of the state, the social system, the economic system, and the status, responsibilities, and authorities of the relationship subjects in the distribution process. Essentially, distribution relationships manifest at the economic level as the division and possession of resources or property between the state, enterprises, and individual residents, as well as among them internally; at the social level as the division and coordination of interests between distribution relationship subjects and among them internally; and at the legal level as the division and constraint of power and rights between them and among them internally. Such property and interest distribution relationships require the intervention and adjustment of law, especially economic law. Based on the special status and functional advantages of economic law in adjusting distribution relationships, the correct 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 legal theory premise of the systematic existence of legal values, the author first analyzes the multifaceted nature of justice as the highest value pursuit of law, and then specifically 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, distribution justice gave prominent status to order and security but simultaneously reduced the importance of freedom and equality. In the capitalist era, the value of freedom and efficiency in distribution justice was significantly enhanced and effectively realized. Under socialist planned economies, distribution justice was in an extreme distortion of "egalitarianism." Even in the international context of economic development 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 overall goal of legal adjustment of distribution relationships, a basic principle system for distribution legal institutions, including equality, efficiency, fairness, and order, is constructed, as well as the selective application of these principles in different distribution legal institutions.
In the Mechanism Theory section, with the goal of establishing and constructing the functional mechanism of legal adjustment of distribution relationships, the author proposes a path that includes the allocation mechanisms of distribution rights among all social entities, such as the state, enterprises, and individual residents, and among them internally. First, starting from 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 attribution of distribution rights, proposing the state distribution power aimed at adjusting the relationship of national income distribution, such as the planned control right of national income distribution, state financial distribution power, taxation power, financial control power, and price distribution intervention power, as well as the distribution rights of enterprises and individuals as components. Then, it specifically analyzes the allocation models and operational mechanisms of distribution rights among different subjects and among them internally, as well as in 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 state and its power and distribution system 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 safeguards for state distribution rights, enterprise distribution rights, and individual distribution rights. Regarding the institutional safeguard system of state distribution rights, it includes state planning legal institutions, state budget legal institutions, tax legal institutions, financial expenditure legal institutions, financial control legal institutions, and state price distribution legal institutions. Among these, the social distribution function of the planning legal institution should receive attention and recognition both theoretically and practically. This system should prioritize ensuring the scientificity of national income distribution plans and focus on the establishment of procedures for the compilation, decision-making, implementation, and adjustment of national income distribution plans. The state budget legal institution has a typical attribute of distribution law, and its mechanism and basic path for adjusting distribution relationships are concentrated in the rational allocation of state budget distribution rights, including the state budget compilation power, deliberation and decision-making power, and execution power, among different state organs in two dimensions: vertical and horizontal. The balance concept of state budgets and its maintenance, the institutional choice and innovation of state budget methods, and the institutional safeguards for the scientificity and democracy of state budget activities are key issues to be addressed in the design and arrangement of state budget legal institutions. The social distribution function of the tax legal institution is highly prominent, and the rational allocation of tax power among the state, enterprises, and individual residents, as well as among them internally, constitutes the 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 constitute key issues in tax law creation. The financial expenditure system is a concentrated reflection of the redistribution of national income, with government procurement and social welfare expenditure systems constituting its main content. The financial control 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 safeguard system of enterprise distribution rights, the basic content consists of profit distribution systems scattered in relevant enterprise laws. Among these, as a gathering point of the interests of multiple subjects, the establishment of company profit distribution principles and the selection of company profit distribution models constitute the basic safeguards for the realization of company distribution rights. State-owned enterprises, as a special form of state direct intervention in economic life, have their profit distribution systems influenced or constrained by the specific economic systems promoted by different countries. The flexible profit distribution systems within partnerships and individual enterprises ensure the survival and development of these transitional forms of enterprise organization. Regarding the institutional safeguard system of individual distribution rights, the legal institutions that ensure individuals obtain corresponding income through labor, investment, management, and the satisfaction of basic survival needs constitute the 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 income forms from management, 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, and comprehensively analyzes the legal roots of social distribution inequalities in China. It clearly points out that the improper allocation and exercise of distribution rights are the root causes of legal system distribution inequalities; the imperfections of distribution systems, 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 arrangements of urban and rural areas, the inadequate adjustment of interests and legal redress during institutional changes, and the unbalanced supply of legal systems nationwide are the legal roots leading to the widening of the income gap between urban and rural areas, the emergence of relatively poor and special difficult groups, and the unfairness of regional income distribution. Based on this, the author proposes an overall approach to the reform and innovation of China's distribution system. First, the update 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 distribution system value goals, and the realization of the efficiency goals of the distribution system itself. 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 relationships 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 of revenues and expenditures, 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 the financial expenditure distribution system in terms of establishing the public finance goal, adjusting the financial expenditure structure, compressing the scale of financial expenditure, strengthening financial expenditure supervision, and improving the efficiency of the use of financial funds. Finally, the author proposes countermeasures or suggestions for the reform and development of the distribution system in response to outstanding issues in China's social distribution, such as the income distribution gap between urban and rural residents, the relief of special difficult groups, and the coordination of balanced development between the eastern, central, and western regions.