The Study Of Universal Service In Rural Areas In Perspective Of Public Sector Economics

As one significant element of modern telecommunication regulations, universal service plays an importment role in guaranteeing the basic human rights, promoting the development of economy and enhancing the social welfare.Considering all these goals, the theory,policy and practice of universe are the common research themes of academic members,regulators and the carriers.In this dissertation, I investigate universal service in view of public sector economics rather than simply the telecommunication industry itself.Given the existence of positive externalities,the net-work effects, and telecomminication industry's great contribution to economic development,prove that universal service is a kind of quasi-public goods.An econometric model of main telecommunication indicators and social welfare provides evidence of the above judgement.Thus, corporating the universal service fund into the frame of public expenditure,and considering the impacts that all sorts of public expenditure may have had on the farmer's annual mean net income, may help rugulator optimize the priority of the universal service among all public policy goals.Considering the pratice of fiscal decentralization in China for years,this dissertation studies the theory and empirical research about fiscal decentralization , lays the theoretic foundation of decentralization in universe sevice.Comparison between the cost proxy model and franchise bidding indicates that universal service must completes the transformation from regulation to competition.Based on examining the universal service in macro-economic level,and after researching into the constitutional transition ,the problems and the environment of the universal service in China,this dissertation gives the policy proposals for universal service in rural areas in China.It can be concluded that universal service is a kind of quasi-public goods,the invest of telecommunication infrastrues in rural areas should be part of public expenditure of Government, the local government may perform a greater function in the supply of universal service in the background of fiscal decentralization in China, and the competitive mechanics must be introduced in universal service.