School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Sep 27;17(19):7058. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17197058.
A common argument is that the comprehensive implementation of the river chief system (RCS) is a clear indication of the Chinese government's strong commitment to overcoming the problem of water pollution. Scant attention, nonetheless, has been afforded to systematically examining the economic and social effects of this pioneering policy. Based on news reports and data from regions in which the RCS was piloted, this paper fills in a critical literature gap by unpacking the environmental, economic, and societal benefits accrued from this river-based management approach. Specifically, by employing a difference-in-differences (DID) method, this study shows that (1) overall, the adoption of the RCS has significantly reduced the discharge of sewage per unit of GDP and improved water quality to a considerable extent; (2) the RCS, functioning under China's top-down bureaucratic structure, coupled with increasing encouragement of bottom-up oversight and citizen participation, has provided local governments with strong incentives to improve water quality in a timely manner in their respective jurisdictions through the introduction of a plethora of measures, ranging from increased investment in wastewater treatment to faithful enforcement of environmental regulations; (3) the positive changes anticipated as a result of the RCS cannot be materialized in regions that have difficulties sustaining economic growth or facilitating cross-boundary policy coordination; and (4) the long-term effectiveness of the RCS is based on its ability to compel local enterprises to innovate their modes of operation, ultimately leading to regional industrial upgrading. The paper concludes by discussing how these empirical findings can help policymakers devise feasible tactics for confronting the causes of China's current environmental predicament in the context of improving the alignment of individual officials' political aspirations with targeted environmental outcomes.
一个常见的观点认为，全面实施河长制（RCS）清楚地表明中国政府有强烈的意愿来克服水污染问题。然而，人们很少关注系统地评估这一开创性政策的经济和社会影响。本文基于河长制试点地区的新闻报道和数据，通过剖析这种基于河流的管理方法所带来的环境、经济和社会效益，填补了这一关键文献空白。具体而言，本文运用双重差分（DID）方法表明：（1）总体而言，采用河长制显著降低了单位 GDP 的污水排放量，在很大程度上改善了水质；（2）在中国自上而下的官僚体制下，河长制与自下而上的监督和公民参与的不断鼓励相结合，为地方政府提供了强有力的激励，促使它们在各自的管辖范围内及时采取多种措施来改善水质，这些措施包括增加污水处理投资和严格执行环境法规等；（3）在难以维持经济增长或促进跨境政策协调的地区，无法实现河长制预期的积极变化；（4）河长制的长期有效性取决于其迫使地方企业创新运营模式的能力，最终导致区域产业升级。本文最后讨论了这些经验发现如何帮助政策制定者制定可行的策略，以应对中国当前环境困境的根源，同时提高个别官员的政治愿望与目标环境成果之间的一致性。
