The Supply Of Rural Public Goods During Transition Period

Adequate supply of public goods is not only the foundation stone of each nation' s economic and social development but also the mark of the degree of each nation' s civilization development. What' s more, fair supply of public goods is also the reflection of the rational degree of public policies. Unfair supply of public goods will lead those who are not favored by public policies to the accumulation and vicious circle of poverty, will form a dual economic and social structure which features the existence of development scissors between one who is favored by public policies and the other who is not favored, and finally violates the sustainable, "people first" and scientific development approach. In some degree, Chinei is at the turning point of such historic development. Economists hold different views on the problem of public goods supply: that is government supply and market supply. What' s more, to some extent, the logic of these two views is completely opposite: government supply or market supply. This kind of opposite logic makes public policies for the supply of public goods lack theoretic foundation and inconstancy inaction. An American economist, Ostrom, takes the lead in getting rid of this logic. She has developed the theory of public goods supply on the basis of widely exploration on and study of different nations' experiences, and her positive study of public pools and police service has provided a unique way to deal with the problem of public goods supply. Ostram holds that public goods should be divided into the supply of public goods and the production of them. The supply of public goods means that consumers obtain them, while the production of them means that producers produce them, which is a totally physical process. On the basis of this differentiation, the government and market systems can play their own roles as a supplier and producer according to the principles of efficiency and fairness. From Ostram' s viewpoint , the systems of government and market are not opposite but supplementary. More importantly, she has put forward the third kind of the order of public goods supply that is different from the government and market, namely polycentricity.The essay uses the analytic framework of public goods industry established by Ostram for reference, systematically and profoundly explores the problem of the supply of public goods in the rural areas of China during the period of the...