Study on the Way to Achieve the Maximum Social Welfare of Road Resources

This paper shows the quasi-public goods characteristic of road in terms of economics, which permits both government and market to be qualified as road providers. However, the existence of market failure and government failure makes the road resources not achieve the optimal structure and maximum public welfare with the monopolized road supply by either of them. The reasons for low efficiency on road resources supply and the loss of social welfare are analyzed, and three road supply modes based on the balance between the government and the market are established. With the aim of the maximization of public welfare of road resource, finally effective supply paths and measures of road resources are discussed according to different supply modes.