Environmental policy and farmers' active straw return: administrative guidance or economic reward and punishment

Straw used to be an important raw material for heating, cooking, and raising livestock in rural areas. However, with the development of the economy, straw burning poses a great threat to the environment. Straw return is of great significance for realizing carbon peaks and carbon neutrality because of its ecological value and economic value. Based on the survey data of 540 households in Sichuan Province, China, the Probit model and CMP model are used to empirically analyze the influence of environmental policy on farmers' active straw return and its mechanism. The results show that: (1) 65.9% of farmers actively return straw to the field, and 34.1% of farmers passively return straw to the field. (2) environmental policies significantly promote farmers' initiative to return straw to the field, in which the influence of economic rewards and punishments is greater than that of administrative guidance. (3) Government propaganda and government training in government administrative guidance can promote farmers' active straw return by raising their awareness, with intermediary effects of 76.05% and 60.14%, respectively. (4) Female heads of households, high education level of heads of households, and high family income can also positively promote farmers' active straw return.