基于制度科层理论的国有旅游资源产权解析——从化温泉水权案例

国家所有的自然资源是中国最典型的旅游资源之一。运用制度科层理论作为工具,通过对从化温泉水权变迁的个案研究,探讨了国有旅游资源的产权制度变迁。研究发现,从化温泉依次经历了"国家代理制""国家-私企双轨制"和"地方政府专营制"3种温泉水权制度。温泉水的管理实体从模糊的国家代理人向明晰的地方代理机构转变。在国有旅游资源产权制度从"国家代理制"向"国家-私企双轨制"或"地方政府专营制"的转变过程中,科层体制下各级政府部门的政治协商是影响制度变迁的主要交易成本,正是对政治成本的考量直接决定了国有旅游资源产权制度变迁的走向。创建新的领地并通过"空间"换"制度"的方式规避政治交易成本,是国有旅游资源产权制度变迁的一种选择。

The Explanation of the Change in State-owned Tourism Resources Property Rights from a Hierarchical Institution Perspective: Conghua Hot Spring Case Study

The major proportion of the natural tourism resource is state- owned in China. With themarket- based reform of the natural resource development in various ways, the issues related to theproperty rights of the natural resources in tourism industry has attracted significant attention withinacademia around the turn of the century. Among them, the hot spring is one the most important natureresources. The hot-spring-based tourism development exists in almost all the provinces in China. It hasbecome a notable tourist attraction that combines natural resource and leisure experiences. This studytakes the natural resources hierarchy mode as an analytical tool to discuss the transformation of China’shot spring property rights through an examination of Conghua in Guangdong Province.The case study reveals the shaping and changing of three institutional arrangements in turn：national agency, state- private dual track system, and local government franchise system. The centralgovernment has exclusive management rights at the early years of hot spring valorization after theestablishment of People’s Republic of China. The original use and reuse of thermal water was decidedthrough administrative means. The foremost shortcoming of this“national agency”institution is theambiguous nature of the property rights. In fact, the hot spring was controlled by several powerfulcentral and local departments, which used the thermal water competitively. The consequence of thisinstitutional arrangement was the high operation cost against the backdrop of the lack of an internalcoordination system, making Conghua hot spring a typical“tragedy of the commons”. After 1978, theConghua hot spring rights structure was gradually incorporated into a“state-private dual track system”,which means that the central government still had exclusive management rights while the users couldaccess the thermal water through the redistribution by both administrative and market means. Since1998, the management right of thermal water has been claimed by t