ICT Use, Environmental Quality Perception and Farmers’ Participation in Domestic Waste Separation: Micro-Survey Data from China

Abstract

Encouraging farmers to participate in domestic waste sorting is an important initiative to optimize rural habitats and build a beautiful countryside. Using data from a sample of 2126 farmers obtained from a Chinese micro-survey, this paper empirically investigates the impact of ICT use on farmers’ domestic waste classification using OLS and ordered probability models and examines the mediating role of environmental quality perception. The study shows that ICT use has a significant negative effect on farmers’ environmental quality perceptions and a significant positive effect on farmers’ domestic waste sorting. Furthermore, the direct positive effect of ICT use on farmers’ domestic waste sorting is greater than its negative indirect effect through environmental quality perceptions. Finally, farmers with ICT use are more willing to participate in domestic waste sorting. This suggests that farmers may have a tendency to complain and express dissatisfaction on the internet but still behave in a way that is participatory in waste sorting. The results of the study still hold after a rigorous robustness test. In addition, there are significant differences in the impact of ICT use on different age and income groups, so policies should be tailored to different groups. More attention should be paid to the environmental welfare effects on older and lower-income groups.