Triple-hurdle model analysis of aquaculture farmers’ multi-stage willingness to participate in green and healthy aquaculture actions in China: based on ecological cognition and environmental regulation perspectives

Abstract

Implementing the action of green and healthy aquaculture is an important measure to ensure the stable and secure supply of crucial agricultural products and promote the green and high-quality development of the fishing industry in China. This article divides the willingness to participate in the green and healthy aquaculture actions (GHAAs) into three stages: whether to participate, mode of participation, and degree of participation based on the dynamic decision-making process of the farmers. Based on micro survey data of aquaculture households in Zhejiang Province, this paper applies the Triple-Hurdle model to analyze the effect of ecological cognition and environmental regulation on multi-stage participation willingness, with a particular emphasis on exploring the differences in participation willingness between two types of green aquaculture methods, traditional and emerging technologies. The results show that ecological cognition has a positive promoting effect on the willingness to participate in actions and the degree of willingness to participate in both types of technological methods, the constrained environmental regulation policies significantly positively affects the degree of willingness to participate in traditional technological methods, and the incentive environmental regulation policies significantly positively affects the willingness to choose emerging technological methods and its degree of willingness to participate. The analysis of the regulatory effect of environmental regulation shows that constrained regulation policies can enhance the willingness of high ecological cognition farmers to participate in actions, while incentive policies are helpful for high ecological cognition farmers’ adoption willingness of emerging green production technology. In addition, there are scale and intergenerational differences in the effects of ecological cognition and environmental regulation on farmers’ willingness to participate in actions.