Abstract

Particulate air pollution is a serious problem and has received extensive attention in Beijing. The public might amplify the health risks because of the visibility and frequency of haze, potentially leading to anxiety and panic. Public risk perception might affect individual behaviors and their willingness to pay for improving air quality. We used contingent valuation method and psychometric paradigm to investigate public risk perception and elicit willingness to pay for reductions in the health risk posed by fine particulate matter 2.5 smaller than 2.5 microns in width in Beijing, China. The logit model results showed that the level of fear and four characteristics of risk perception—familiarity, scope of impact, relevance to individual, and voluntariness—had significant effects on respondents’ payment decision. The ordinary least squares model results showed the level of anxiety, anger, and satisfaction about the current situation and four characteristics of risk perception—scope of impact, overall risk, duration of effects, and controllability—had significant effects on the amount of willingness to pay.

Keywords: Environmental economics, air quality, willingness to pay, risk perception, Beijing