The Discuss On The Market-Featured Refrom For Urban Public Utilities In China

As a kind of public goods provided by a government, public utilities are essential services in public life and are usually none or low profitable and a natural monopoly exists in the field. During the 1980s and `90s, with the instruction of some leading theories , such as Public Choice Theory, New Pubic Management, and Transaction Cost Theory, privatization became a dominant economic trend in western countries , especially within the United States and the United Kingdom. The privatization campaign was based on the following reasons. Firstly, with the increasing interference in social life and economy, the bureaucratic agencies and fiscal deficit in many western countries expanded rapidly. Secondly, the government businesses which monopolizing the supply of public goods were low efficient . Resources and taxmoney were not well used by them. Thirdly, Economic golbelization propeled the government to raise the efficiency in supplying public goods. With the market economy in background, in 1990s Chinese government began to open the market of urban public utilities to private agencies, which labled the beginning of the reform for urban public utilities. The goal of the reform is to break the government monopoly in the field of public utilities and raise the qulity and efficiency in supplying by introducing competition and absorbing foreign investment and technologies. At the same time, some western management modes, such as Contracting-Out and Public-Private Partnership, have been used in the constraction and operation of public utility projects. Although great achievements have been acquired in china's reform, many problems are still unresolved.The legislation in the management of pulbic ulitity drops behind the practice. Government supervision is not normative and many government employees have no recognition in serveing the public.In order to solve these problems, much work must be done on the following aspects. First,the legal system should be integrated to protect equity, openess, competetion in market mechanism. Second, a regular supervisory mechanism should be established to regulate the behaviors of government and enterprises.Third, the functions of government should be changed and the idea of "serve the people"should be advocated among government employees.