Water pollution control is an important part of the onerous long-term task of building a beautiful China. Based on water pollution data from the state-controlled monitoring sites and the manually compiled data on the ...Water pollution control is an important part of the onerous long-term task of building a beautiful China. Based on water pollution data from the state-controlled monitoring sites and the manually compiled data on the evolution of the river chief system(Hezhangzhi 河长制), we used the Difference in Differences(DID) technique to identify the policy effects of the system in local practice. Our findings show that the system has achieved preliminary management of water pollution but has not significantly reduced the main water pollutants. This may indicate that local governments have whitewashed the symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. In the course of comprehensively advancing the river chief system, better governance results will be achieved if all levels of government formulate clear and appropriate goals, design sound and feasible accountability mechanisms, and invite professional third-party agencies specializing in water quality testing to supervise the work.展开更多
基金phased result of the major project of the National Social Science Fund of China “Research on China’s Economic Growth Potential and Impetus”(14ZDA023).
文摘Water pollution control is an important part of the onerous long-term task of building a beautiful China. Based on water pollution data from the state-controlled monitoring sites and the manually compiled data on the evolution of the river chief system(Hezhangzhi 河长制), we used the Difference in Differences(DID) technique to identify the policy effects of the system in local practice. Our findings show that the system has achieved preliminary management of water pollution but has not significantly reduced the main water pollutants. This may indicate that local governments have whitewashed the symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. In the course of comprehensively advancing the river chief system, better governance results will be achieved if all levels of government formulate clear and appropriate goals, design sound and feasible accountability mechanisms, and invite professional third-party agencies specializing in water quality testing to supervise the work.
