Abstract: Despite widespread concerns and elevated policy debates, little is known about the Chinese public’s perceptions of water pollution and willingness to cooperate with government policies. Based on survey data, this study examined Lake Tai resident perception of water pollution, willingness to pay (WTP) for water quality improvements, and its influencing factors. Contingent valuation (CV) results showed that respondents would prefer to pay 141 CNY per household a year, approximately 0.70% of their annual per capita disposable income, as an environmental fee to improve water quality in Lake Tai. Aggregate WTP for all five lakeside cities of Lake Tai was estimated at about 3.8 billion CNY, without discounts, in the next ten years. WTP was found to increase with income and female respondents were willing to pay more than males. Those respondents who were dissatisfied with water quality were more likely to pay more. The usage of Lake Tai did not strongly affect WTP.

Key words: Water quality, Willingness to pay (WTP), Contingent valuation (CV), Lake Tai

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