主题｜Topic：Water afar off quenches not thirst? The health benefits of the south-north water transfer project in China
时间｜Time：04.24（周一）14: 30-15: 30
地点｜Venue：文澴楼709教室｜Class Room 709，WENHUAN
主讲｜Speaker
李丁，西南财经大学公共管理学院教授、博士生导师，管理学博士。现为四川省委、省政府决策咨询委员会委员、民政部第三届全国基层治理专家指导委员会委员、中国行政管理学会理事、四川省学术技术带头人后备人选等。第一作者或通讯作者论文见于《经济研究》《中国行政管理》《经济学（季刊）》《金融研究》《财经研究》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.
