Abstract:

Enhancing the effectiveness of earmarked transfers is crucial for refining the financial transfer payments system Earmarked transfers allocated by the central government to local governments aim to implement key policies and promote economic and social progress，thereby enhancing governance capacity However，challenges persist that hinder their effectiveness Amid Chinas ongoing proactive fiscal policies，it is imperative to systematically assess both the policy impacts and limitations of earmarked transfers
By leveraging the staggered implementation of Chinas Sponge City Program，a construction initiative sponsored by earmarked transfers from the central government，this study uses a stacked differenceindifferences design to evaluate the incentive and guiding effects of these transfers on local governance，as well as their limitations We find that (1) Earmarked transfers prove effective in stimulating investments in associated public goods，although further improvements are required Notably，the pilot areas saw a rise of 898，000 yuan per square kilometer in fixed asset investments for drainage However，this boost diminished rapidly postpilot and depended heavily on central funds rather than local investments (2) Earmarked transfers have successfully leveraged social capital，leading to increases in both the number and scale of the PPP projects tied to sponge city construction (3) The enhancement of policy effectiveness depends on executionlevel factors，including local expertise in utilizing earmarked transfers，the alignment of funds with local development priorities，and the robustness of local fiscal oversight (4) Policy effectiveness is constrained by the attention allocation of local leaders Frequent leadership turnover exacerbates the shortterm impacts of Chinas Sponge City Program，as local governments tend to favor highvisibility municipal investments
This study argues that to enhance the effectiveness of earmarked transfers，it is critical to amplify the leverage of fiscal funds during execution while addressing existing constraints By extending research on policy effectiveness to the project implementation level，it clarifies the mechanisms that amplify or diminish policy effectiveness and offers valuable insights for optimizing the allocation of fiscal earmarked transfers

Key words:

fiscal earmarked transfers, 
																																							   sponge city, 
																																							   policy effectiveness, 
																																							   government attention

摘要：

提高专项转移支付的政策效能是完善财政转移支付体系的重要内容。本文以中央财政专项资金支持的海绵城市建设试点为准自然实验，实证分析财政专项转移支付对地方市政公用设施建设投资的激励引导作用及其制约因素。结果表明：（1）财政专项转移支付能激励引导地方增加专门领域公共品的投资，但政策效果在海绵城市建设试点期后迅速衰减，并且中央财政对地方投入的带动相对有限；（2）财政专项转移支付的政策效能可通过撬动社会资本以发挥杠杆效应，试点政策促进了海绵城市相关领域的政府和社会资本合作；（3）政策效力的提升受益于地方对专项资金的使用经验、地方发展需求与专项资金的适配性、地方财政监督力度等执行层面因素；（4）政策效能的释放受制于地方领导人的注意力配置，频繁的官员更替加剧了海绵城市建设的短效性，地方偏好高可视性市政投资。本文研究表明，在执行层面放大杠杆效应、破除制约因素，是提升财政专项转移支付政策效能的关键之举。

关键词:

财政专项转移支付, 
		                                    	                                    													                                       海绵城市, 
		                                    	                                    													                                       政策效能, 
		                                    	                                    													                                       政府注意力