Dynamic analysis on expenditure budget of tambon administrative organization

Abstract

Although the government has a policy of transferring its mission to the local government organization to provide access to more people's problems and allow local people to obtain sustainable development, the results of the policy have still not been successful. There is also a growing problem of inequality and injustice that has arisen regularly in the provision of basic public services on education, public health, social welfare, and infrastructure development. The rich who are of good economic status have access to basic public services better than the poor who are of poor economic status and receiving basic public services at a lower level, both in quantity and quality. Thus, the researcher investigated the cause of the impact on changes in local expenditures. It is an empirical approach for analyzing the policy in allocating the expenditure budget on education, public health, social welfare, and infrastructure of Tambon Administrative Organizations (TAO) in the northeastern region of Thailand. The data that was used in this study are secondary data, being retrospective data for five years from 2009 to 2013, and constitutes the main data for quantitative analysis. The framework of the study is divided into two parts as follows. First, the framework of the study on the determinant influences to the public expenditures on education, public health, social welfare, and infrastructure, including local demand affecting budget spending. And second, the framework of the study in how institutional or political impacts influence the local budget allocation. The variables were studied as follows. The independent variables include incremental budgeting, economic determinants, and demographic, community, and environmental determinants. The mediator variable is the governmental determinant. The dependent variables are the expenditures on education, public health, social welfare, and infrastructure. The result of the study found that the independent variables directly affected public expenditures on education, including one-year lagged public expenditure on education, revenues allocated by government, grants, savings, general grants, population, and programs. The independent variables that directly affected the expenditures on public health were one-year lagged public expenditures on public health, revenues allocated by government, withdrawals from reserved funds, savings, general grants, staff, and programs. Those that directly affected the expenditures on social welfare were one-year lagged public expenditures on social welfare, revenues allocated by government, withdrawals from reserved funds, savings, general grants, staff, and programs. Lastly, those that directly affected the expenditures on infrastructure were one-year lagged public expenditures on infrastructure, revenues allocated by government, withdrawals from reserved funds, savings, general grants, staff, and programs. The consideration of each determinant directly and indirectly affected the local expenditures on education, public health, social welfare, and infrastructure. The results revealed that the determinants directly affected all these expenditures, including incremental budgeting, economic determinants, the governmental determinant, and demographic, community, and environmental determinants and indirectly all these expenditures, including economic determinants and demographic, community, and environmental determinants through the governmental determinant. The budget is allocated for the local expenditures on education, public health, social welfare, and infrastructure. All these use original budgeting by past experience as a basis for budgeting. This involves just a little change in budgeting. Budgeting of these expenditures has political influence that is involved in the form of activities or programs. So, for local development, politicians try to present the policies that respond to the demands of the people. The politicians cited for public relations tools are seeking votes. However, in order for these activities or programs to be implemented they must be approved by the local council as a first priority. Although the policy is latent with political votes, it is a legitimate policy. Therefore, the expenditure policy that is implemented on education, public health, social welfare, and infrastructure must be received fairly and equitably, and it should be allocated more for the poor than the rich in order to achieve equality and eliminate poverty. The lines between rich and poor are not that much apart because it is becoming an inequitable and unfair society.