Abstract:

This paper first proposes the concept of institutional and dynamic analysis of the production mode of social sciences in China, and on this basis proposes a “four-dimension hybrid” analytical framework that covers political functions, administrative governance, academic strategies, and technical conditions. This framework is then used to analyze three real research events that took place in history—namely, the research event behind the “four percent of GDP” policy, which is the most important educational finance research event in recent history of China, the statistical comparability study of public education expenditures, and an international literature review study related to the “four percent of GDP” policy—to elaborate on the above influencing factors. Finally, some preliminary thoughts are discussed on the construction of an independent knowledge system and research paradigm issues in China’s education finance research.

Key words: social science, mode of production, education finance, “four percent of GDP” policy