Henk Folmer

Estimation of awareness and perception of water scarcity among farmers in the Guanzhong Plain, China, by means of a structural equation model

This paper applies a structural equation model (SEM) to analyze the formation of awareness and perception of water scarcity, based on a cross-sectional dataset of 446 farmers in the Guanzhong Plain, Shaanxi Province, China. We find that age, percentage of time spent on farming and social network are the main determinants of awareness. Water price and drought experience are the most important explanatory variables of perception. In addition, awareness and perception strongly interact. The results obtained in this paper are relevant for policymaking, since environmental behavior, which includes efficient use of natural resources, tends to improve if supported by internalization of social norms, which in its turn, is promoted by awareness and perception. From the analysis it follows that spreading information via social networks, rather than via the media, is an important vehicle to enhance awareness and perception and thus to improve irrigation water use efficiency. Special attention should be paid to part-time farmers who are limited in directly perceiving water scarcity. Finally, more use should be made of the price mechanism to strengthen perception and awareness.

Determinants of Rural Industrial Entrepreneurship of Farmers in West Bengal : A Structural Equations Approach

This article presents a structural equations model of rural industrial entrepreneurship (RIE) among farmers in the Bardhaman district, West Bengal, India. It identifies the determinants of RIE but also analyzes impacts of RIE on its endogenous determinants. Age, education, marital status, number of children, number of crops, financial family support, innovativeness, wealth, and occupational status are identified as the main determinants of RIE. On the basis of these findings, promotion, education, and training programs are suggested as important policy handles to encourage and support farmers to start a rural industrial enterprise. Moreover, the development of properly functioning capital markets in rural areas is recommended. This policy instrument may not only stimulate rural industrialization but may also be instrumental in controlling the development of inefficient rural industrial activities.

Determinants of residential satisfaction in urban China: A multi-group structural equation analysis

Based on the 2006 wave of the China General Social Survey, this paper analyses interregional disparities in residential satisfaction in urban China. It also explores whether the determinants vary across the coastal, central and inland regions by means of a multi-group structural equation model (SEM). We find that residential satisfaction in the coastal region is lower than in the central and inland regions. Housing quality, home ownership, community type, socioeconomic status and Hukou in all three regions have positive impacts on residential satisfaction, while the presence of children has a negative effect. The magnitude of each variable’s impact on residential satisfaction varies across regions due to the disparities in economic, social and physical conditions. Housing quality is the most important determinant of residential satisfaction in the coastal region, whereas community type and Hukou are the most important in the central and inland regions.

Perception of Air Pollution in the Jinchuan Mining Area, China: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Studies on the perception of air pollution in China are very limited. The aim of this paper is to help to fill this gap by analyzing a cross-sectional dataset of 759 residents of the Jinchuan mining area, Gansu Province, China. The estimations suggest that perception of air pollution is two-dimensional. The first dimension is the perceived intensity of air pollution and the second is the perceived hazardousness of the pollutants. Both dimensions are influenced by environmental knowledge. Perceived intensity is furthermore influenced by socio-economic status and proximity to the pollution source; perceived hazardousness is influenced by socio-economic status, family health experience, family size and proximity to the pollution source. There are no reverse effects from perception on environmental knowledge. The main conclusion is that virtually all Jinchuan residents perceive high intensity and hazardousness of air pollution despite the fact that public information on air pollution and its health impacts is classified to a great extent. It is suggested that, to assist the residents to take appropriate preventive action, the local government should develop counseling and educational campaigns and institutionalize disclosure of air quality conditions. These programs should pay special attention to young residents who have limited knowledge of air pollution in the Jinchuan mining area.

The Relationships between Individualism, Nationalism, Ethnocentrism, and Authoritarianism in Flanders: A Continuous Time-Structural Equation Modeling Approach

This article analyzes the relationships among nationalism (N), individualism (I), ethnocentrism (E), and authoritarianism (A) in continuous time (CT), estimated as a structural equation model. The analysis is based on the General Election Study for Flanders, Belgium, for 1991, 1995, and 1999. We find reciprocal effects between A and E and between E and I as well as a unidirectional effect from A on I. We furthermore find relatively small, but significant, effects from both I and E on N but no effect from A on N or from N on any of the other variables. Because of its central role in the N-I-E-A complex, mitigation of authoritarianism has the largest potential to reduce the spread of nationalism, ethnocentrism, and racism in Flanders.

Measuring Authoritarianism with Different Sets of Items in a Longitudinal Study

Authoritarianism is a form of social behavior characterized by strict obedience to the authority of a state or organization and adherence to enforcing and maintaining control through the use of oppressive measures. It refers to a complex of nine subsyndromes (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, and Sanford, 1950), of which conventionalism (strict adherence to conventional values), aggression and submission are the most important (Meloen, 1991). The subsyndromes explain why authoritarian people tend to look down on (contraidentify) and discriminate social or ethnic groups that are ‘different’. Authoritarianism is part of a broader cluster of cultural conservative attitudes, especially vivid within the lower social classes (Meloen and Middendorp, 1985; De Witte, 1990). Scheepers, Felling, and Peters (1992) argue that a sociological explanation for an authoritarian attitude lies within the need for compensation for political powerlessness, caused by unfavorable social circumstances.