An Empirical Study on the Correlation between Information Asymmetric and Institutional Dependence of Environmental Governance- the Application of Social Experiment

• Main Authors: Wei-Ying Sung, 宋威穎
• Other Authors: Chang, Chiung-Ting
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/v8aejr

博士 === 國立中山大學 === 公共事務管理研究所 === 106 === With the emergence of environmental consciousness, how local governments can set a clear path for urban development and ensure regional transformation toward sustainable development, while maintaining a balance between economic development and environmental sustainability and protecting the rights and interests of different stakeholders, has become an important subject of local governance nowadays. In the past, local governments catered excessively to existing development thinking in pursuit of urban economic development. Moreover, due to the interdependence of the political, economic, and industrial structures, they were susceptible to a state of institutional structural path dependency when it came to environmental governance. Hence, it was difficult for them to truly realize sustainable development at the local level. The Cieding no. 1-4 roadway environmental disputed issues in Kaohsiung can be seen as an epitome of the conflict between local economic development and environmental sustainability. It is also an explicit case of institutional dependency in local environmental governance. Focusing on the no. 1-4 roadway environmental disputed issues, this study attempted to discuss the relationship between the asymmetry of environmental information and the institutional dependency of environmental governance. Relevant policy recommendations were proposed to provide a reference for improve local environmental governance from institutional dependency. A two-phase mixed-methods research approach combining qualitative and quantitative research was adopted to conduct an investigation into the local stakeholders. In the first phase, document analysis, field investigation, and in-depth interviews were conducted in order to identify the path of the formation of institutional dependency of environmental governance and its main causes. In the second phase, a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews were carried out to understand the relationship between institutional dependency of environment governance and information asymmetry. Finally, a social experiment was employed to explore how the intervention of different attributes of environmental information influences the resident’s environmental decisions and judgments.Through summarizing and analyzing the results of document analysis, field observations, in-depth interviews, and a questionnaire survey, it was found that: I. Local environmental governance is influenced by the interdependence among the overall political-economic structure, industrial patterns, policy dependency, and social atmosphere. It is also affected by how individuals perceive their life experiences, which is inter-related with the environmental institutional structure. The positive feedback sequence in path dependency is, thus, generated, strengthening the institutional dependency of local environmental governance. II. A positive correlation can be found between the information asymmetry and the path dependency in local environmental governance. It appears that the more local residents believe in the environmental information provided by local networks and the media, the more dependent they are on the local political-economic structure and the social atmosphere. Conversely, the more they believe in the information provided by environmental groups, the less dependent they are on the local political-economic structure and the social atmosphere. III. Both the amount and attributes of environmental information influence the local residents’ environmental decisions and judgments. It seems that, for residents who have already taken a specific stance, their stances remain unaffected by the exposure to both positive messages regarding economic development and negative messages regarding environmental impacts. However, the latter reduce the level of support for development projects among residents with various stances. Finally, this study, which is based on the findings, will offer advice for the local government and stakeholders as well as advice for the future studies.