Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.5, 2018

 

The Policy Effects of Local Governments’ Environmental Governance in China—A Study Based on the Evolution of the “River-Director” System

(Abstract)

 

Shen Kunrong and Jin Gang

 

Control of water pollution control is an important part of the onerous long-term task of building a beautiful China. On the basis of water pollution data at the national monitoring points and the manually compiled data on the evolution of river-director system, we used the double difference method to identify the policy effects of the river-director system in local practice. Our findings show that the river-director system achieved preliminary control of water pollution but did not significantly reduce the main water pollutants. This may indicate that local governments whitewashed the symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. In the course of comprehensively implementing the river-director system, better governance results will be achieved if governments at all levels formulate clear and appropriate governance goals, design sound and feasible accountability mechanisms, and invite professional third-party agencies specialized in water quality testing to supervise the work.