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The Impact of Social Capital on farmers' Willingness to Reuse Agricultural Waste for Sustainable Development
Author(s) -
He Ke,
Zhang Junbiao,
Feng Junhui,
Hu Ting,
Zhang Lu
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
sustainable development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.115
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1099-1719
pISSN - 0968-0802
DOI - 10.1002/sd.1611
Subject(s) - reuse , agriculture , social capital , business , sustainable development , natural resource economics , sustainable agriculture , sustainability , environmental economics , agricultural economics , environmental planning , economics , environmental science , waste management , geography , political science , engineering , social science , sociology , ecology , archaeology , law , biology
Reuse of agricultural waste plays a pivotal role in sustainable development and carbon emission abatement (CEA). We seek to confirm that social capital, which is a sociological concept, can influence farmers' willingness to reuse agricultural waste for CEA. Controlling for human capital and physical capital factors, we prove that social capital significantly affects farmers' willingness to reuse agricultural waste for CEA. In terms of driving farmers' willingness, the marginal utility of social capital varies with the dimension. Specifically, institutional trust is the largest driver, followed by civic engagement, interpersonal trust and norms of reciprocity networks. We also verify that a higher educational level, surplus labor (a human capital variable) and waste facility (a physical capital variable) can enhance farmers' willingness to reuse agricultural waste for CEA. Effective approaches to improve farmers' willingness to reuse agricultural waste for CEA include establishing a learning organization, strengthening the adaptability of environmental regulations in rural areas and forming strong social mores of mutual trust, mutual reciprocity and mutual benefit. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment