Abstract: Based on the data of 2014, this paper calculates the fiscal expenditure of the local governments for the urban and rural residents endowment insurance system at different regions. Considering the different levels of economic growth, it divides China’s local governments into five types: double high type, intermediate type, double low type, economically inclined type and protectively inclined type. These five types of local governments are significant different in their financial responsibilities for the endowment insurance system. Such factors as the regional factors, the level of additional basic pension, the aging population and so on are the important reasons leading to these differences. The analysis of the different types of local governments show that the balance between regional economic growth and government fiscal expenditure for pension insurance is an important direction for the future reform of the urban and rural residents endowment insurance system.

Key words: economic growth; urban and rural residents basic endowment insurance system; local government; fiscal responsibility