Domestic solid waste discharge and its determinants in rural China
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the discharge volume of domestic solid waste in rural China and to explore the potential impact of various factors that contribute to it.
Design/methodology/approach
The data used in this study come from a large-scale field survey conducted in six Chinese provinces. Based on the collected survey data, econometric model on the determinants of domestic solid waste discharge was constructed and used for analysis.
Findings
Results from the study show that the per capita daily discharge of rural domestic solid waste was close to 1 kg in 2010, slightly less than the urban level of 1.2 kg. Results from descriptive statistical analysis and econometric estimation indicate that by implementing selected policy measures, the discharge of solid waste can be significantly reduced. In addition, the discharge of domestic solid waste is also closely related with local socio-economic development. In particular, the results show an obvious inverted U-shaped curve between discharge volume and income. The increase of off-farm labor opportunities would also reduce solid waste discharge in rural China.
Originality/value
This paper focuses on domestic solid waste discharge and its determinants in rural China, a research area very important but seldom reported.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Sciences Foundation (70925001, 71073154 and 71103013) in China.
Citation
Huang, K., Wang, J., Bai, J. and Qiu, H. (2013), "Domestic solid waste discharge and its determinants in rural China", China Agricultural Economic Review, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp. 512-525. https://doi.org/10.1108/CAER-02-2012-0008
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited