How does new environmental law affect public environmental protection activities in China? Evidence from structural equation model analysis on legal cognition

Jielin Chen; Junyue Huang; Xiaocheng Huang; Shiwei Sun; Yu Hao; Haitao Wu

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136558

How does new environmental law affect public environmental protection activities in China? Evidence from structural equation model analysis on legal cognition

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Apr 20:714:136558. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136558. Epub 2020 Jan 13.

Authors

Jielin Chen¹, Junyue Huang², Xiaocheng Huang¹, Shiwei Sun³, Yu Hao⁴, Haitao Wu⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China.
² School of Law, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China.
³ School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China. Electronic address: shiweisun@bit.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China; Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China; Beijing Key Lab of Energy Economics and Environmental Management, Beijing 100081, China; Sustainable Development Research Institute for Economy and Society of Beijing, Beijing 100081, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Electric Vehicles in Beijing, Beijing 100081, China. Electronic address: haoyuking@bit.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China; Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China; College of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830047, China.

PMID: 31991275
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136558

Abstract

To investigate the validity of Chinese law enforcement from the public's perspective, this research applies the theory of planned behavior, and introduces law as a moderator variable to explore the determinants of public's environmental behaviors. Results from an empirical study of China indicate that perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, inward attitude, and outward attitude all have positive impacts on environmental intentions and indirectly affect the citizens' environmental behavior and activists' environmental behavior. Meanwhile, legal cognition positively moderates the relationship between environmental intentions and behaviors. As the level of the public's legal awareness increases, the direct effect of these two types of environmental intentions on environmental behaviors respectively continues to increase. Based on the findings, some constructive implications are provided to the governments and legislators to strengthen public participation in environmental protection.

Keywords: China; Environmental law; Legal cognition; Public environmental protection activities; Structural equation model (SEM).