TITLE:
Evaluation of Water Resources Tax Policy in China Pilot Areas Based on Three-Stage DEA Model
AUTHORS:
Bingying Li, Guiliang Tian, Xuan Wu, Siyu Xu
KEYWORDS:
Water Resources Tax, Policy Efficiency, Three-Stage DEA Model
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.12 No.1,
December
29,
2023
ABSTRACT: General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the policy
of “water saving priority” and “two-handed
efforts” in the 16-character water control policy, and the change of “fee” to “tax”
for water resources is an important means and policy tool for China to
implement them. According to relevant national work arrangements, water
resource tax reform will be carried out nationwide. However, most of the
current analysis of the policy effects of water resources taxation still remains focused in the actual observation
of the reform practice, lacking
scientific and effective analysis methods to compare policy performance of
these pilot areas. This study is based on the principle of comprehensiveness,
vertically grasping the top-down processes of the implementation of
water resource tax policies, selecting documents released, capital investments, water withdrawal permitting management,
and water metering monitoring as input Indicators. Meanwhile, based on
the objectives of policy reform, taking water saving, water use structure
adjustment and taxation as output indicators, horizontally comparing the
implementation effects of water resource tax policies of 10 pilot regions from
the perspective of input and output with the Three-Stage DEA Model in the form
of digital efficiency. The findings reveal that the shift in the use of water
resources from “fee” to “tax” is stable, and most pilot areas such as Beijing,
Tianjin and Hebei still show high efficiency after excluding external
environmental factors and random errors. It means that the inputs made by the
local governments have achieved tangible and
efficient outputs. However, there are also several pilot areas where the policy efficiency has not
reached the best value, and the level of water-saving management needs to be improved to promote the implementation
of the policy.