IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i11p8571-d1155357.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Environmental Law in Farmers’ Environment-Protecting Intentions and Behavior Based on Their Legal Cognition: A Case Study of Jiangxi Province, China

Author

Listed:
  • Pinyi Su

    (School of Economics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Muhammad Imran

    (Department of Economics and Business Management, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54800, Pakistan)

  • Muhammad Nadeem

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China)

  • Shamsheer ul Haq

    (Department of Economics, Division of Management and Administrative Science, University of Education, Lahore 54800, Pakistan)

Abstract

Agriculture contributes to environmental degradation by using unsustainable farming practices, such as the intensive use of chemical fertilizers and fossil fuels. With China’s growing environmental concerns, new environmental laws have begun to disseminate information about environmental preservation among residents. This legislation plays a major role in developing individual behavior. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the moderating role of environmental laws in relation to environment-protecting intentions and behavior based on their legal cognition. Based on 1350 randomly selected farmers from Jiangxi Province, we confirm the theory of planned behavior through a structural equation model. The results demonstrate that the perceived behavior control, personal factors, and attitude of farmers directly contribute to both types of farmer’s intentions, i.e., citizen and activist; and indirectly to both types of farmer’s environmental-oriented behavior (citizen and activist). The inward attitude effect was stronger than the outward attitude in both types of intentions of farmers. The farmers’ legal cognition also moderated their environment-protecting intentions and behaviors. This implies that as the farmer’s legal familiarity grows, the direct effect of both types of farmer’s intentions on the farmer’s environmentally oriented behavior continues to increase. Awareness programs, financial support, and extension services should be enhanced in rural areas, which may develop the farmers’ proenvironmental behavior and lead to them adopting environmentally friendly farm practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Pinyi Su & Muhammad Imran & Muhammad Nadeem & Shamsheer ul Haq, 2023. "The Role of Environmental Law in Farmers’ Environment-Protecting Intentions and Behavior Based on Their Legal Cognition: A Case Study of Jiangxi Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-22, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:8571-:d:1155357
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/8571/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/8571/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. He, Guojun & Fan, Maoyong & Zhou, Maigeng, 2016. "The effect of air pollution on mortality in China: Evidence from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 18-39.
    2. Attari, Shahzeen Z. & Schoen, Mary & Davidson, Cliff I. & DeKay, Michael L. & Bruine de Bruin, Wändi & Dawes, Robyn & Small, Mitchell J., 2009. "Preferences for change: Do individuals prefer voluntary actions, soft regulations, or hard regulations to decrease fossil fuel consumption?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1701-1710, April.
    3. Zhang, Bing & Chen, Xiaolan & Guo, Huanxiu, 2018. "Does central supervision enhance local environmental enforcement? Quasi-experimental evidence from China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 70-90.
    4. Mi, Zhifu & Zhang, Yunkun & Guan, Dabo & Shan, Yuli & Liu, Zhu & Cong, Ronggang & Yuan, Xiao-Chen & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2016. "Consumption-based emission accounting for Chinese cities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1073-1081.
    5. repec:eme:ijlma0:ijlma-01-2018-0011 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Liu, Wenling & Wang, Can & Mol, Arthur P.J., 2012. "Rural residential CO2 emissions in China: Where is the major mitigation potential?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 223-232.
    7. Lee Cronbach, 1951. "Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 16(3), pages 297-334, September.
    8. Lanzi, Elisa & Dellink, Rob & Chateau, Jean, 2018. "The sectoral and regional economic consequences of outdoor air pollution to 2060," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 89-113.
    9. Amutenya, N. & Shackleton, C.M. & Whittington-Jones, K., 2009. "Paper recycling patterns and potential interventions in the education sector: A case study of paper streams at Rhodes University, South Africa," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 237-242.
    10. Lu-Yi Qiu & Ling-Yun He, 2017. "Are Chinese Green Transport Policies Effective? A New Perspective from Direct Pollution Rebound Effect, and Empirical Evidence From the Road Transport Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-11, March.
    11. Mengyuan Lu & Bin Guo & Guohua Chen & Lei Yuan & Runnan Xing & Yu Huang, 2022. "A Study on the Factors Influencing Farmers’ Intention to Revitalize Idle Homesteads Based on Improved TPB Framework—Analysis of the Moderating Effect of Farmer Differentiation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-20, November.
    12. Adam J. Liska & Haishun Yang & Maribeth Milner & Steve Goddard & Humberto Blanco-Canqui & Matthew P. Pelton & Xiao X. Fang & Haitao Zhu & Andrew E. Suyker, 2014. "Biofuels from crop residue can reduce soil carbon and increase CO2 emissions," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(5), pages 398-401, May.
    13. Kilbourne, William & Pickett, Gregory, 2008. "How materialism affects environmental beliefs, concern, and environmentally responsible behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(9), pages 885-893, September.
    14. Azam, Muhammad, 2016. "Does environmental degradation shackle economic growth? A panel data investigation on 11 Asian countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 175-182.
    15. Zhang, Suopeng & Zhang, Mingli & Yu, Xueying & Ren, Hao, 2016. "What keeps Chinese from recycling: Accessibility of recycling facilities and the behavior," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 176-186.
    16. Costantini, Valeria & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2012. "On the green and innovative side of trade competitiveness? The impact of environmental policies and innovation on EU exports," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 132-153.
    17. Liu, Jinlong & Huang, Qiao & Ulishney, Christopher & Dumitrescu, Cosmin E., 2021. "Machine learning assisted prediction of exhaust gas temperature of a heavy-duty natural gas spark ignition engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    18. Shunsuke Managi & Shinji Kaneko, 2006. "Economic growth and the environment in China: an empirical analysis of productivity," International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(1), pages 89-133.
    19. Kellenberg, Derek K., 2009. "An empirical investigation of the pollution haven effect with strategic environment and trade policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 242-255, July.
    20. Reinartz, Werner & Haenlein, Michael & Henseler, Jörg, 2009. "An empirical comparison of the efficacy of covariance-based and variance-based SEM," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 332-344.
    21. Liu, Jinlong & Wang, Bosen & Meng, Zhongwei & Liu, Zhentao, 2023. "An examination of performance deterioration indicators of diesel engines on the plateau," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PB).
    22. Lu, Yi & Wu, Mingqin & Yu, Linhui, 2012. "Is There a Pollution Haven Effect? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in China," MPRA Paper 38787, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wei Wang & Pomi Shahbaz & Babar Aziz & Muhammad Nadeem, 2024. "Examining the Relationship Between Ecological Commitment, Environmental Knowledge, and Farmers’ Nature-Friendly Behavior: Investigating the Moderating Influence of Environmental Legislation," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, August.
    2. Ling Pan & Shamsheer ul Haq & Xiaohua Shi & Muhammad Nadeem, 2024. "The Impact of Digital Competence and Personal Innovativeness on the Learning Behavior of Students: Exploring the Moderating Role of Digitalization in Higher Education Quality," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wei Wang & Pomi Shahbaz & Babar Aziz & Muhammad Nadeem, 2024. "Examining the Relationship Between Ecological Commitment, Environmental Knowledge, and Farmers’ Nature-Friendly Behavior: Investigating the Moderating Influence of Environmental Legislation," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, August.
    2. Dong, Yan & Tian, Jinhuan & Wen, Qiang, 2022. "Environmental regulation and outward foreign direct investment: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Cao, Jing & Ma, Rong, 2023. "Mitigating agricultural fires with carrot or stick? Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    4. Frommeyer, Britta & Wagner, Elisa & Hossiep, C. Richard & Schewe, Gerhard, 2022. "The utility of intention as a proxy for sustainable buying behavior – A necessary condition analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 201-213.
    5. Paolo Esposito & Zubair Ahmad & Vincenzo Riso & Noman Mustafa, 2024. "Beyond the business case? Retracing the walk of Corporate social responsibility and financial performance relationship in the Oil and Gas sector," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 2211-2224, May.
    6. Chung-Ho Su, 2018. "Exploring Sustainability Environment Educational Design and Learning Effect Evaluation through Migration Theory: An Example of Environment Educational Serious Games," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-26, September.
    7. Julio C. Acosta-Prado & Oscar H. López-Montoya & Carlos Sanchís-Pedregosa & Ulpiano J. Vázquez-Martínez, 2020. "Sustainable Orientation of Management Capability and Innovative Performance: The Mediating Effect of Knowledge Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, February.
    8. Dongmin Kong & Mengxu Xiong & Ni Qin, 2023. "Tax incentives and firm pollution," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(3), pages 784-813, June.
    9. del-Castillo-Feito, Cristina & Blanco-González, Alicia & Hernández-Perlines, Felipe, 2022. "The impacts of socially responsible human resources management on organizational legitimacy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    10. Zhang, Jinning & Wang, Jianlong & Yang, Xiaodong & Ren, Siyu & Ran, Qiying & Hao, Yu, 2021. "Does local government competition aggravate haze pollution? A new perspective of factor market distortion," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Liu, Donghua & Ren, Shenggang & Li, Wenming, 2022. "SO2 emissions trading and firm exports in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    12. Caterina Lucarelli & Camilla Mazzoli & Sabrina Severini, 2020. "Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Examine Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Moderating Effect of COVID-19 Beliefs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-17, December.
    13. Nitzl, Christian, 2016. "The use of partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in management accounting research: Directions for future theory development," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 19-35.
    14. Nurul Fadly Habidin & Juriah Conding & Nursyazwani Mohd Fuzi & Baharudin Omar & Sharon Yong Yee Ong, 2016. "Measuring Green Performance for Malaysian Automotive Industry," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 6(11), pages 191-202, November.
    15. Leslier Valenzuela-Fernández & Manuel Escobar-Farfán & Mauricio Guerra-Velásquez & Elizabeth Emperatriz García-Salirrosas, 2023. "COVID-19 Effects on Environmentally Responsible Behavior: A Social Impact Perspective from Latin American Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-21, February.
    16. Somlanare Romuald KINDA & Pascale COMBES MOTEL & Jean-Louis COMBES, 2014. "Do Environmental Policies Hurt Trade Performance?," Working Papers 201404, CERDI.
    17. Mütterlein, Joschka & Kunz, Reinhard E. & Baier, Daniel, 2019. "Effects of lead-usership on the acceptance of media innovations: A mobile augmented reality case," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 113-124.
    18. Dechezleprêtre, Antoine & Neumayer, Eric & Perkins, Richard, 2015. "Environmental regulation and the cross-border diffusion of new technology: Evidence from automobile patents," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 244-257.
    19. Kou, Po & Han, Ying & Qi, Xiaoyuan, 2022. "The operational mechanism and effectiveness of China's central environmental protection inspection: Evidence from air pollution," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    20. Mar Gómez & Arturo Molina & Águeda Esteban, 2013. "What are the main factors attracting visitors to wineries? A PLS multi-group comparison," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 47(5), pages 2637-2657, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:8571-:d:1155357. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.