主題｜Topic：Water afar off quenches not thirst? The health benefits of the south-north water transfer project in China
時間｜Time：04.24（周一）14: 30-15: 30
地點｜Venue：文澴樓709教室｜Class Room 709，WENHUAN
主講｜Speaker
李丁，西南财經大學公共管理學院教授、博士生導師，管理學博士。現為四川省委、省政府決策咨詢委員會委員、民政部第三屆全國基層治理專家指導委員會委員、中國行政管理學會理事、四川省學術技術帶頭人後備人選等。第一作者或通訊作者論文見于《經濟研究》《中國行政管理》《經濟學（季刊）》《金融研究》《财經研究》和 Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice、Energy Policy、China Economic Review、Resources, Conservation & Recycling 等期刊。
摘要｜Abstract
As the largest and the most expensive inter-basin water transfer project in the world, the Chinese South-North Water Transfer (SNWT) project has diverted over 50 billion cubic meters of water from the Yangtze river to Northern China, which raised extensive debates. In this paper, we attempt to justify the SNWT by providing ex-post evidence on the causal effects of the project on public health. We rely on the natural experiment of the middle route to implement a spatial Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) with the longitudinal survey data of the Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS). The RDD estimates suggest that the SNWT reduced health expenditure of affected residents by at least 54%, which is primarily due to the reduced waterborne diseases, cancers and hospitalization for residents in Northern China. The effects are more pronounced for residents live in urban area, arid area and for those with access to tap water. The robust results provide a scientific base for the cost-benefits analysis of water infrastructure in arid and semi-arid areas.
