Shortage And Governance: Economic Analysis On The Problem Of Water Shortage In China

Water is the basis of life. However the globe has witnessed an increasing shortage offresh water, which is an indispensable natural resource for the subsistence anddevelopment of mankind. On the World Water Forum in 2000, the World WaterCommittee indicated that the shortage of water would be one of the most importantglobal-wide issues in the following two decades, which has been a huge ecologydeficit between human being and natural resource. In China, the average watervolume is merely 2.2 thousand cubic meter, one fourth of that of the world. Theshortage of water has become one of most severe challenges for the economic growthof China. It leads to the excessive usage of water, which brings about water pollutionand earth subsidence. What's more, the contest for water among city, industry andagriculture threatens the safety of grain production and economic stability in ourcountry. It is also a challenge to us with the low quality and usage of water.Given this visible situation, it is valuable to set up a profound study in resolving theshortage of water in our country. The author analyzes the arrangement of waterproperty system and elaborates the government-leading water management systemreforms and the definition and executive modalities of the water property right fromthe economic aspects. Moreover, the author puts forward a policy frame on solvingthe shortage and realizing the sustainable development of water resource.Basing on the concept of sustainable development, the author discusses the value andpricing of water resource. Due to the mass-usage and multi-price of water resource,the author thinks it an efficient system that the state owns the scarce water resource,which is mainly embodied by the arrangement of the rights of water usage order. Thus,based on the state-owned-water-resource system, we can speed the frugal and efficientusage of water resource through quasi-market regulation, such as water property andwater market, and financial stimulation. Besides, the state must establish the conceptof resource-oriented public finance to realize proprietor rights, realize the value ofwater in arrangement, and cut down the expenditure on management of waterresource. As a result, we can resolve the shortage of water resource by themulti-center governance including government, market and NGOs'(non-government iiiorganizations) participation.The thesis consists of seven chapters. The introduction briefly discusses themotivation, object and background of study along with the structure arrangement ofthesis. Chapter 1 begins the discussion on the definition of sustainable development ofwater resource and proposes an analytic aspect of water deficit. Chapter 2 analyzesthe causes of water resource shortage, the fundamental problem in water resourcemanagement in China. It lies in the ignorance of the economic signification andrealization modality of water resource, which contributes to the excessive usage andexacerbation of the shortage. Chapter 3 analyzes systematically the value of waterresource according to its multi-characteristics, on which a discussion on water pricingis developed to provide a basis for the next chapter. Chapter 4 discusses the propertyof water resource by reviewing and comparing relative theories in the world. Chapter5 studies profoundly on the transition of water property system through case studies.The author considers multi-center governance structure the imperative premise torealize water property. Chapter 6 analyzes the regulation mechanism of water resource.In this chapter, the author develops a systematical economic discussion on theregulation of water resource, compares the regulation institutions among variouscountries, and discusses how the government undertakes the environmental publicrisks caused by the shortage of water resource. Chapter 7 develops a deep analysis onthe concept of resource-oriented public finance and how to fulfill the water re...