The book is structured into four parts. Part I, comprising chapters 1-3, explores the backgrounds and motives of private operation of urban public utilities, analyzes the history and current status of private operations, and constructs the performance evaluation system. Part II includes chapter 4 and chapter 5. Recognizing that private operation of urban public utilities and government regulation are highly interdependent, this part investigates the negative effects that may arise from private operation of public utilities as well as their causes, analyzes the demand for government regulations on private operations, and discusses the supply of government regulations in terms of regulatory system, regulatory institutions, and regulatory policies. Part III is composed of chapters 6, 7, and 8. This part focuses on three public utility areas: urban water supply, gas pipeline, and garbage disposal. It investigates the technical and economic features and the current status of private operation reforms in these three areas, evaluates the performance of private operation in each area, and explores the main contents of government regulations and policies in each utility area. Chapter 9 is treated as an independent part of the book. Based on the summary and analyses about the success and problems in private operation of China's urban public utilities, this last part provides some basic ideas that can be used to promote and deepen the reforms of private operation of urban public utilities.
About the Author: Associate Professor Li Yunyan Li Yunyan, Doctor of Management, Associate Professor, Visiting scholar at Lingnan University in HongKong. She is the Vice-Dean of China Institute of Regulation Research. Her main research orientations include the regulation theory and policy of public utilities, urban water environment. She has published over 10 academic papers in various top academic journals such as China Industrial Economy and Academic Monthly. Professor Zhou Xiaomei Zhou Xiaomei, Doctor of Management, Professor. Her main research areas are industrial organization theory, regulatory economics, and health economics. She has published more than 10 monographs and textbooks, and has published more than 80 papers in academic journals such as Economic Theory and Economic Management, China's Economic Issues, Agricultural Economic Issues, International Trade Issues and Economist(China). Professor Wang Jianming Wang Jianming, Doctor of Management, Professor, Visiting scholar at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is the vice dean of the School of Business Administration of Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics and the dean of the Green Management Institute of this University. His main research areas are green consumer behavior and regulatory policies. He has published more than 10 monographs and textbooks. He has published more than 70 papers in academic journals. Professor Wang Junhao Wang Junhao, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Honorary Doctorate of London Metropolitan University, undertook academic studies respectively at the University of Strathclyde and Columbia University. He is the former president of Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Dean of the China Institute of Regulation Research, Vice Chairman of Chinese Industrial Economic Association, Special Government Allowance by the State Council of China. An outstanding talent at the national level talent projects.