Research on Enterprises’ Willingness to Pay for the Ecological Value of Water Rights under the “Quota Plus Fixed-Norm” System: A Case Study of the Taihu Lake Basin

Research on Enterprises’ Willingness to Pay for the Ecological Value of Water Rights under the “Quota Plus Fixed-Norm” System: A Case Study of the Taihu Lake Basin | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Research on Enterprises’ Willingness to Pay for the Ecological Value of Water Rights under the “Quota Plus Fixed-Norm” System: A Case Study of the Taihu Lake Basin Yu Huang, Shenbei Zhou, Yuliang Wang, Jin Huang, Yingying Bian This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9351800/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Confronted with severe water resource constraints and water environmental pressures in the Taihu Lake Basin,the “Quota Plus Fixed-Norm” system has become a critical carrier for promoting the materialization of the ecological value of water rights. Taking 281 high water-consuming enterprises in the Taihu Lake Basin as research samples,this study constructs an analytical model of “Institutional Perception–Normative Structure–Behavioral Intention–Willingness to Pay” based on the Theory of Planned Behavior.The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is adopted to measure enterprises’ maximum willingness to pay for the ecological value of water rights, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is employed to identify the key factors affecting enterprises’ willingness to pay and their action paths.The findings show that the median value of enterprises’ willingness to pay for the ecological value of water rights in the Taihu Lake Basin is 1.20 yuan per ton,with the values mainly concentrated in the range of 1–2 yuan per ton. Institutional perception and ecological behavioral attitude exert a significant positive driving effect on enterprises’ willingness to pay,while behavioral intention plays a mediating transmission role between the two factors and WTP.External normative pressure presents a significant inhibitory effect on enterprises’ willingness to pay.The research indicates that stable institutions and cost conditions are the core elements for improving enterprises’ willingness to pay.Policy formulation should establish a reflux mechanism for the ecological value of water rights through the path of “institutional stability–normative coordination–capacity improvement–incentive recycling”.This study provides behavioral logic support at the micro-enterprise level for the design of water rights systems and the realization of ecological value in typical lake basins,and also offers theoretical references and practical implications for the refined management of water resources in intensively developed basins. Biological sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences Taihu Lake Basin “Quota + Fixed-Norm” System Ecological Value of Water Rights Willingness to Pay Contingent Valuation Method Theory of Planned Behavior Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9351800","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":633865721,"identity":"720ccbbe-e884-4cc1-9c99-a19af6050a9b","order_by":0,"name":"Yu Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hohai University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yu","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":633865722,"identity":"91d47160-3b88-4220-9072-67ebfbd30007","order_by":1,"name":"Shenbei Zhou","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAyElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCQYGZiApZyAB4rGRoMWYZC0MiRuI1iI/u/nY44IKi/Tt0j0GDB/KDjPwz27Ar8XgzrF04xlnJHJ3zjljwDjj3GEGiTsHCGiRyDGT5m2TyN1wI8eAmbftMFAkgYDDZuR/k+b9J5FuANLylxgtDDdy2KR5GyQSwFoYidFicCPNTHrGMQnDDTfSCg72nEvnkbhB0GHJz6QLaurkDW4kb3zwo8xajn8GIYchgwNAzEOC+lEwCkbBKBgFuAAA0yA+5/RS234AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Hohai University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shenbei","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhou","suffix":""},{"id":633865723,"identity":"216ffecc-7ed8-4710-8c5c-688fe203671b","order_by":2,"name":"Yuliang Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sichuan Shengda Hydropower Development Co., Ltd","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuliang","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":633865724,"identity":"dabb9849-6c42-4159-8104-9ae1e57f6d21","order_by":3,"name":"Jin Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sinohydro Group Shengda Hydropower Co., Ltd.","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jin","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":633865725,"identity":"9fae1b75-82cb-47b9-9f45-35352d93a4cf","order_by":4,"name":"Yingying Bian","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Changzhou College of Information Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yingying","middleName":"","lastName":"Bian","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-08 05:23:24","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9351800/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9351800/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108806211,"identity":"edcfd312-9937-4529-a070-e83700e4cd7a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-08 15:28:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":773921,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ResearchonEnterprisesWillingnesstoPayfortheEcologicalValueofWaterRightsundertheQuotaPlusFixedNormSystemACaseStudyoftheTaihuLakeBasin.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9351800/v1_covered_43cafdda-5d8a-4c92-98ee-e8529244e2b2.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Research on Enterprises’ Willingness to Pay for the Ecological Value of Water Rights under the “Quota Plus Fixed-Norm” System: A Case Study of the Taihu Lake Basin","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Taihu Lake Basin, “Quota + Fixed-Norm” System, Ecological Value of Water Rights, Willingness to Pay, Contingent Valuation Method, Theory of Planned Behavior","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9351800/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9351800/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eConfronted with severe water resource constraints and water environmental pressures in the Taihu Lake Basin,the \u0026ldquo;Quota Plus Fixed-Norm\u0026rdquo; system has become a critical carrier for promoting the materialization of the ecological value of water rights. Taking 281 high water-consuming enterprises in the Taihu Lake Basin as research samples,this study constructs an analytical model of \u0026ldquo;Institutional Perception\u0026ndash;Normative Structure\u0026ndash;Behavioral Intention\u0026ndash;Willingness to Pay\u0026rdquo; based on the Theory of Planned Behavior.The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is adopted to measure enterprises\u0026rsquo; maximum willingness to pay for the ecological value of water rights, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is employed to identify the key factors affecting enterprises\u0026rsquo; willingness to pay and their action paths.The findings show that the median value of enterprises\u0026rsquo; willingness to pay for the ecological value of water rights in the Taihu Lake Basin is 1.20 yuan per ton,with the values mainly concentrated in the range of 1\u0026ndash;2 yuan per ton. Institutional perception and ecological behavioral attitude exert a significant positive driving effect on enterprises\u0026rsquo; willingness to pay,while behavioral intention plays a mediating transmission role between the two factors and WTP.External normative pressure presents a significant inhibitory effect on enterprises\u0026rsquo; willingness to pay.The research indicates that stable institutions and cost conditions are the core elements for improving enterprises\u0026rsquo; willingness to pay.Policy formulation should establish a reflux mechanism for the ecological value of water rights through the path of \u0026ldquo;institutional stability\u0026ndash;normative coordination\u0026ndash;capacity improvement\u0026ndash;incentive recycling\u0026rdquo;.This study provides behavioral logic support at the micro-enterprise level for the design of water rights systems and the realization of ecological value in typical lake basins,and also offers theoretical references and practical implications for the refined management of water resources in intensively developed basins.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Research on Enterprises’ Willingness to Pay for the Ecological Value of Water Rights under the “Quota Plus Fixed-Norm” System: A Case Study of the Taihu Lake Basin","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-05-05 20:10:07","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9351800/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"b2ccb7c4-bd12-4cb6-a9a9-75a0abdf30c8","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 5th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"decision","content":"Rejected","date":"2026-05-07T09:45:22+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-05-05T02:23:10+00:00","index":40,"fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":67455484,"name":"Biological sciences/Ecology"},{"id":67455485,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology"},{"id":67455486,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences"},{"id":67455487,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-07T09:55:43+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-05-05 20:10:07","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9351800","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9351800","identity":"rs-9351800","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}