Study On The Influence Of Water Resource Tax On Water Use Efficiency

Water resource,as an important resource which both maintains life and economic development,is of self-evident importance to human survival and social development.With the continuous development of economic level and human activities,the phenomenon of water resource shortage is becoming increasingly prominent and the contradiction between supply and demand of water resource is becoming increasingly acute.Shortage of water resource has become one of the important factors restricting our country’s rapid development.Although water resources fee has been gradually levied in some areas in the last century,it has not played an obvious role in protecting water resources due to its chaotic management,low collection standard and insufficient compulsory status for a long time.Based on the above situation,in order to improve the utilization efficiency of water resources and protect water resources,China took the lead in the pilot water resource tax in Hebei Province in 2016,and expanded the pilot scope to Beijing,Tianjin,Henan,Shandong and other nine regions in 2017,finally forming the current governance pattern.This thesis discusses the influence of water resource tax pilot on water use efficiency,and uses synthetic control method to do an empirical study.Firstly,the concept of water resource,water resource tax and water footprint is introduced,and the theoretical basis of water resource tax is expounded,including optimal consumption theory of exhaustible resources,externality theory and Public goods theory.Then,the thesis analyzes the mechanism of water resource tax on water use efficiency through leverage effect,fund supply function,innovation compensation effect and psychological effect.Next,it focuses on the current situation and historical evolution of China’s water resource tax,as well as the main practices and typical cases of water resource tax pilot,and analyzes the existing problems in the pilot.On this basis,this thesis calculates the water footprint intensity of 30 provinces and regions in China from 2011 to 2020,and uses the synthetic control method to calculate the impact of water resource tax pilot on water use efficiency in Beijing,Hebei,Shandong,Henan,Ningxia and Sichuan.The results show that the water resource tax pilot has improved the water use efficiency in most regions,the phenomenon of "fatigue" appears in Beijing,and a certain time lag appears in Shandong.Finally,this thesis summarizes the experience of water resource tax in Russia and Israel,and puts forward suggestions to optimize water resource tax system and improve water resource tax management measures in view of the existing problems of water resource tax in China.