| Summary: | Water prices in Beijing have experienced growth over the past few years, but remain "cheap" considering the
cost of supply and lack of resources. This paper uncovers the role of institutions (defined by formal aspects
such as laws, regulation and policies, government departments and hierarchies, and informal aspects such as
history, personal and bureaucratic motivation) in determining and implementing water pricing policy and water
price reform.
While this paper is primarily descriptive, it is formulated as a multiple criteria decision-making
analysis. In determining actors and objectives for this analysis, the institutions surrounding the issue of water
pricing are explored to understand and describe their function, the incentives they are influenced by, the goals
they aim for, and how these goals fit in the wider context of national priorities. Various alternatives derived
from water pricing theory are then tested to determine how well they achieve the goals laid out.
Through this process we come to the conclusion that the implementation of higher, market-based water
prices is inevitable, given the aims of local and national government alike. Further, the rising of water prices
correspond with a change in national ideology from communist, egalitarian principles, to market-based, market
socialist principles. === Applied Science, Faculty of === Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of === Graduate
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