Perceived health risk, environmental knowledge, and contingent valuation for improving air quality: New evidence from the Jinchuan mining area in China

This study examined people's willingness to pay (WTP) for improving air quality obtained through contingent valuation method (CVM) in the context of the theory of planned behaviour. Following this theory, four indicators were developed to measure people's behavioural intentions for improving air quality; two of these indicators were correlated with contingent valuation survey. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to estimate our Perception-based Behavioural Intention Model (PBIM) by using a cross-sectional data set of 759 residents of the Jinchuan mining area in Gansu Province, China. We found that Jinchuan residents' WTP for improving local air quality was significantly influenced by the perceived health risk of hazardous pollutants, environmental knowledge, socioeconomic status, current health condition, gender, work environment, and proximity to the pollution source. This study shows that SEM outperforms conventional CVM econometrically and in terms of the provision of relevant policy information.