The River Chief System (RCS) has evolved from local innovative practices to a national water governance strategy to address the current challenges in China’s water environmental management. In contrast to existing re...The River Chief System (RCS) has evolved from local innovative practices to a national water governance strategy to address the current challenges in China’s water environmental management. In contrast to existing research that focuses on the strengths, weaknesses, and improvements of RCS, this study uses literature study to reveal the dynamic evolution of RCS through three phases, with RCS spreading from developed coastal areas to central and western inland regions. RCS’s diffusion path involves vertical diffusion between central and local levels and horizontal diffusion among local governments. Moreover, RCS has also achieved conceptual spillover, gradually expanding into other governance domains, such as the Lake Chief System, the Field Chief System, the Forestry Chief System, and the integration of multiple chief roles. However, it is essential to scrutinize the phenomenon of applying similar governance mechanisms to different areas, as it may result in challenges such as overburdening local governments, insufficient public participation, oversimplification of differences in natural resource endowments, and limited applicability. This study also provides suggestions on how to address these challenges. The study contributes theoretical insights and policy implications, providing a foundation for practical policy innovation.展开更多
As part of their efforts to control water pollution,local governments in China introduced the river chief system,whereby a named individual undertakes responsibility for protecting a specified waterway.As one of the m...As part of their efforts to control water pollution,local governments in China introduced the river chief system,whereby a named individual undertakes responsibility for protecting a specified waterway.As one of the most prominent sources of water pollution,agricultural non-point-source(NPS)pollution is becoming increasingly serious.Determining whether the river chief system,an institutional reform in China's decentralized environmental regulation regime,is effective in alleviating NPS pollution is important for the realization of green development.The effect of the river chief system on reducing agricultural NPS pollution is explored in this study using panel data from 308 Chinese counties during the period from 2004 to 2015.The results reveal that the negative impact of manure output from animal breeding operations on surface water quality is reduced with the implementation of the river chief system.However,the river chief system is ineffective in dealing with the water pollution caused by fertilizer use.Furthermore,in the current system,cooperation among river chiefs only occurs within a province.Local governments should increase their efforts in reducing fertilizer source loads and preventing fertilizer loads from entering surface waters.In addition,the central government should improve cooperation among the river chiefs in upstream and downstream provinces.展开更多
Government-leading,multi-agent participation and coordinated co-governance are the original intentions of River Chief System governance policy design,the purpose is to really improve governance benefits of the River C...Government-leading,multi-agent participation and coordinated co-governance are the original intentions of River Chief System governance policy design,the purpose is to really improve governance benefits of the River Chief System.Regrettably,the current research is still in its infancy,mainly based on theoretical analysis and case analysis.Whether government-leading,multi-agent participation and coordinated co-govemance can really improve the effectiveness of governance still lacks empirical testing.For this reason,based on the 241 questionnaires of the governance benefits of the River Chief System in Guangdong Province,this paper deeply analyzed the influence of the organizational level of the River Chief System on the governance benefits,and further studied the regulatory role of multi-agent participation.The results showed that there was an inverted“U”relationship between the organizational level of the River Chief System and the governance benefit,and multi-agent participation had no positive influence on the relationship between the organization level and the governance benefit.This paper has important enlightening significance for expanding the theory of River Chief System research and guiding the practice of government-leading governance policy of River Chief System.On the other hand,this paper can provide reasonable suggestions on environmental governance for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s high-quality development.展开更多
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
文摘The River Chief System (RCS) has evolved from local innovative practices to a national water governance strategy to address the current challenges in China’s water environmental management. In contrast to existing research that focuses on the strengths, weaknesses, and improvements of RCS, this study uses literature study to reveal the dynamic evolution of RCS through three phases, with RCS spreading from developed coastal areas to central and western inland regions. RCS’s diffusion path involves vertical diffusion between central and local levels and horizontal diffusion among local governments. Moreover, RCS has also achieved conceptual spillover, gradually expanding into other governance domains, such as the Lake Chief System, the Field Chief System, the Forestry Chief System, and the integration of multiple chief roles. However, it is essential to scrutinize the phenomenon of applying similar governance mechanisms to different areas, as it may result in challenges such as overburdening local governments, insufficient public participation, oversimplification of differences in natural resource endowments, and limited applicability. This study also provides suggestions on how to address these challenges. The study contributes theoretical insights and policy implications, providing a foundation for practical policy innovation.
基金the financial support from the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China(71742002 and 71934003)the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions,China(PAPD)the China Center for Food Security Studies in Nanjing Agricultural University,China。
文摘As part of their efforts to control water pollution,local governments in China introduced the river chief system,whereby a named individual undertakes responsibility for protecting a specified waterway.As one of the most prominent sources of water pollution,agricultural non-point-source(NPS)pollution is becoming increasingly serious.Determining whether the river chief system,an institutional reform in China's decentralized environmental regulation regime,is effective in alleviating NPS pollution is important for the realization of green development.The effect of the river chief system on reducing agricultural NPS pollution is explored in this study using panel data from 308 Chinese counties during the period from 2004 to 2015.The results reveal that the negative impact of manure output from animal breeding operations on surface water quality is reduced with the implementation of the river chief system.However,the river chief system is ineffective in dealing with the water pollution caused by fertilizer use.Furthermore,in the current system,cooperation among river chiefs only occurs within a province.Local governments should increase their efforts in reducing fertilizer source loads and preventing fertilizer loads from entering surface waters.In addition,the central government should improve cooperation among the river chiefs in upstream and downstream provinces.
基金This research is supported by the Key Projects of Guangdong Provincial Department of Education(Grant No.2017WZDXM028)the 13th Five-year Plan Project of Philosophy and Social Sciences in Guangzhou City(Grant No.2020GZYB70)the Special Projects in Key Fields of Guangdong Provincial Department of Education(Grant No.2019KZDZX2021).
文摘Government-leading,multi-agent participation and coordinated co-governance are the original intentions of River Chief System governance policy design,the purpose is to really improve governance benefits of the River Chief System.Regrettably,the current research is still in its infancy,mainly based on theoretical analysis and case analysis.Whether government-leading,multi-agent participation and coordinated co-govemance can really improve the effectiveness of governance still lacks empirical testing.For this reason,based on the 241 questionnaires of the governance benefits of the River Chief System in Guangdong Province,this paper deeply analyzed the influence of the organizational level of the River Chief System on the governance benefits,and further studied the regulatory role of multi-agent participation.The results showed that there was an inverted“U”relationship between the organizational level of the River Chief System and the governance benefit,and multi-agent participation had no positive influence on the relationship between the organization level and the governance benefit.This paper has important enlightening significance for expanding the theory of River Chief System research and guiding the practice of government-leading governance policy of River Chief System.On the other hand,this paper can provide reasonable suggestions on environmental governance for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s high-quality development.
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.
