The influencing factors of the WTP for the risk reduction of chemical industry accidents in China

doi:10.1007/s11783-012-0467-y

Front Envir Sci Eng

2012, Vol. 6

Issue (6) : 860-868 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-012-0467-y

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The influencing factors of the WTP for the risk reduction of chemical industry accidents in China

Lei HUANG, Zhijuan SHAO, Weiliang BAO, Bailing DUAN, Jun BI, Zengwei YUAN(

)

State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control & Resource Reuse, School of Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China

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Abstract

To explore the factors that influence respondents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the risk reduction of chemical industry accidents, a questionnaire survey combined with contingent valuation and psychometric paradigm methods were conducted in the city of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, China. Both traditional socioeconomic variables and perceived characteristics of the hazards were considered in this study, and a Tobit model was used to find the factors influencing WTP under three risk reduction scenarios. The results showed that three demographic characteristics, age, gender, and income, significantly affected the WTP for chemical risk reduction. In addition, three extracted public risk perception factors, effect, knowledge, and trust, also strongly affected the WTP. The mean WTP value increased as the magnitude of the risk reduction increased. The number of factors influencing the WTP decreased as the reduction level improved, and only the effect factor had a significant influence on the WTP for a higher level (80%) of risk reduction. The cost for chemical safety management of Yancheng was calculated, and the optimized risk reduction level was determined. These findings can assist governments and policy makers to formulate suitable strategies for risk control, to reach target groups of people to develop effective communication, and to provide specific references for the best investment for the security of local residents.

Keywords risk perception willingness to pay contingent valuation method risk management school of the environment

Corresponding Author(s): YUAN Zengwei,Email:yuanzw@nju.edu.cn

Issue Date: 01 December 2012

Cite this article:

Lei HUANG,Zhijuan SHAO,Weiliang BAO, et al. The influencing factors of the WTP for the risk reduction of chemical industry accidents in China[J]. Front Envir Sci Eng, 2012, 6(6): 860-868.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-012-0467-y
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2012/V6/I6/860

Tab.1 Definition of Tobit regression variables

Tab.2 The main statistical characterization of WTP

Fig.1 Average score of public risk perception to chemical accident

Tab.3 Results of the correlation analysis of nine risk perception variables

Tab.4 Results of the maximum likelihood factor analysis

Tab.5 Results of the Tobit model analysis

Tab.6 Results of the Tobit regression for three levels of risk reduction

Tab.7 Descriptive statistics of the WTP for chemical risk reduction (US$, each person/month)

Fig.2 The relationship between the WTP and the magnitude of risk reduction

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