Integrating stakeholder perceptions and objective indicators in water environmental governance: evidence from China's Yangtze River Economic Belt

ABSTRACT

Water environmental governance is assessed using technical indicators, but these do not show whether implementation is visible or credible to stakeholders. This study examines relationships between stakeholder perceptions and objective indicators in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt. A 2023 survey of 551 respondents in 11 jurisdictions was analysed using structural equation modelling. Perceived policy alignment, implementation credibility, and administrative capacity were positively associated with stakeholder-perceived implementation effectiveness, jointly explaining 56.0% of its variance; implementation credibility had the largest estimated direct coefficient. Parallel indirect associations through credibility and capacity accounted for about 43% of the total association between policy alignment and perceived effectiveness. An objective benchmark for 2020–2022 used five indicators, dimension-balanced weights, and real-GDP-based chemical oxygen demand intensity. Common-method-bias diagnostics found no dominant method factor, and measurement-invariance tests supported cross-group comparability. At the provincial level, perceived effectiveness showed virtually no association with the static index (r = 0.052, permutation p = 0.880) and a small, non-significant association with recent chemical oxygen demand intensity improvement (r = 0.116, p = 0.738). Sensitivity analyses did not yield a stable survey–indicator relationship. Objective indicators should guide ecological risk, compliance, and resource allocation, while stakeholder feedback should diagnose credibility, communication, and legitimacy gaps.