Does China’s real-name system improve or reduce residents’ willingness to participate in environmental impact assessments?

Authors: Liu, Y., Luo, X. and Fu, W.

Journal: Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal

Volume: 40

Issue: 5

Pages: 411-422

ISSN: 1461-5517

DOI: 10.1080/14615517.2022.2102881

Abstract:

China requires residents to provide real names and identification for participation in environmental impact assessments (EIAs). This study examines residents’ willingness to participate in EIAs based on the real-name system. The results of a questionnaire survey in Southwest China showed that after adopting the real-name system, the residents’ willingness to participate in EIAs was reduced. When there was no real-name system, 78.97% of the residents were willing or very willing to participate in EIAs. However, after the implementation of the real-name system, only 40.85% of the residents were willing or very willing to participate in EIAs. The results also indicated that after implementation of the real-name system, the residents’ willingness to participate in EIAs was positively correlated with privacy protection and government trust factors.

Source: Scopus