Villagers’ attitudes and behaviors toward rural solid waste management under environmental authoritarianism in China

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and industrialization in China, combined with a rural-urban dual structure, have resulted in significant challenges for rural solid waste management (RSWM). Through the issuance of regulations and guidelines, and the allocation of substantial funds, the Chinese government has achieved remarkable success in implementing a top-down, linear, and authoritarian waste system, with the national village-level coverage rate of the rural waste management system growing from zero to over 90% in less than 20 years. This paper provides insights into the factors that influence villagers’ responses (attitudes and behaviors) to authoritarian environmental policy measures. Using primary data from Meizhou County in Guangdong Province (the poorest county in China’s richest province), the study finds that villagers’ attitudes are significantly affected by their satisfaction with the government’s RSWM and their environmental concern, while villagers’ behaviors are significantly influenced by their approval level of the local environment, the availability of solid waste collection (SWC) facilities, and their environmental concern. Thus, villagers’ SWC behaviors are mainly influenced by practical convenience and internal motivation. In general, government-relevant factors do not directly impact villagers’ SWC behaviors but significantly moderate villagers’ behaviors. Surprisingly, the variable of villagers’ education level is a significantly negative factor in affecting both RSWM attitudes and behaviors, implying that future RSWM policy measures should take consider democracy more and value villagers’ participation.