IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i23p15639-d983306.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ecological Sustainability and Households’ Wellbeing: Linking Households’ Non-Traditional Fuel Choices with Reduced Depression in Rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaoheng Zhang

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China)

  • Guiquan Yan

    (College of Economics and Management, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China)

  • Qipei Feng

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China)

  • Amar Razzaq

    (Business School, Huanggang Normal University, No. 146 Xingang 2nd Road, City Development Zone, Huanggang 438000, China)

  • Azhar Abbas

    (Institute of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan)

Abstract

A sustainable and pleasant environment is deemed to offer various positive externalities such as scenic, visual and behavioral archetypes and patterns exhibiting in various forms. Such a scenario can significantly relieve households from many psychological and personal complications such as depression. Depression has aroused great concerns in recent years due to its personal and social burdens and unforeseeable damage. Many studies have explored the effects of air pollution caused by traditional fuel consumption on depression. However, limited evidence is available on how household non-traditional fuel choices affect depression. Based on a nationally representative dataset collected from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2012, this paper employs an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model and an endogenous switching probit (ESP) model to address the endogenous issue and to estimate the treatment effects of non-traditional fuel choices on depression in rural China. The empirical results show that non-traditional fuel users have significantly lower Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) scores, indicating non-traditional fuel users face a lower risk of depression. Compared to solid fuels, employing non-traditional fuels will lead to a 3.659 reduction in depression score or decrease the probability of depression by 8.2%. In addition, the results of the mechanism analysis show that household non-traditional fuel choices affect depression by reducing the probability of physical discomfort and chronic disease. This study provides new insight into understanding the impact of air pollution in the house on depression and how to avoid the risk of depression in rural China effectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaoheng Zhang & Guiquan Yan & Qipei Feng & Amar Razzaq & Azhar Abbas, 2022. "Ecological Sustainability and Households’ Wellbeing: Linking Households’ Non-Traditional Fuel Choices with Reduced Depression in Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-15, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:23:p:15639-:d:983306
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/15639/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/15639/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kirsten M. M. Beyer & Andrea Kaltenbach & Aniko Szabo & Sandra Bogar & F. Javier Nieto & Kristen M. Malecki, 2014. "Exposure to Neighborhood Green Space and Mental Health: Evidence from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Alem, Yonas & Beyene, Abebe D. & Köhlin, Gunnar & Mekonnen, Alemu, 2016. "Modeling household cooking fuel choice: A panel multinomial logit approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 129-137.
    3. Kerri Smith, 2014. "Mental health: A world of depression," Nature, Nature, vol. 515(7526), pages 180-181, November.
    4. Wanglin Ma & Awudu Abdulai & Renan Goetz, 2018. "Agricultural Cooperatives and Investment in Organic Soil Amendments and Chemical Fertilizer in China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(2), pages 502-520.
    5. Zhang, Xin & Zhang, Xiaobo & Chen, Xi, 2017. "Happiness in the air: How does a dirty sky affect mental health and subjective well-being?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 81-94.
    6. Hongyun Zheng & Wanglin Ma & Gucheng Li, 2021. "Adoption of organic soil amendments and its impact on farm performance: evidence from wheat farmers in China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 65(2), pages 367-390, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hongyu Li & Yuelin Wang & Wende Chen & Hongfu Li & Yue Tian & Ruojing Chen, 2024. "Adaptability Evaluation of Human Settlements in Chengdu Based on ArcGIS," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-18, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhu, Huanyu & Ma, Wanglin & Vatsa, Puneet & Zheng, Hongyun, 2023. "Clean energy use and subjective and objective health outcomes in rural China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Liu, Ziming & Li, Jia & Rommel, Jens & Feng, Shuyi, 2020. "Health impacts of cooking fuel choice in rural China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    3. Xinrui Wang & Libin Ouyang & Jian Lin & Pengfei An & Wanjing Wang & Lin Liu & Longfeng Wu, 2023. "Spatial Patterns of Urban Green-Blue Spaces and Residents’ Well-Being: The Mediating Effect of Neighborhood Social Cohesion," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, July.
    4. Wanglin Ma & Hongyun Zheng & Peng Yuan, 2022. "Impacts of cooperative membership on banana yield and risk exposure: Insights from China," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(2), pages 564-579, June.
    5. Junxia Zeng & Dengwang Li & Cuiping Ma & Bin Wang & Liangliang Gao, 2022. "The Impact of Different Uses of the Internet on Farmers′ Adoption of Soil Testing and Formulated Fertilization Technology in Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, December.
    6. Liu, Yan & Chen, Xi & Yan, Zhijun, 2019. "Depression in the House: The Effects of Household Air Pollution from Solid Fuel Use in China," IZA Discussion Papers 12654, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Qiang Wen & Haiqiang Liu & Jinyuan Chen & Huiyao Ye & Zeyu Pan, 2023. "Evaluation of Satisfaction with the Built Environment of University Buildings under the Epidemic and Its Impact on Student Anxiety," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-23, February.
    8. Yayun Ren & Jian Yu & Guanglai Zhang & Chang Zhang & Wenmei Liao, 2023. "The Short- and Long-Run Impacts of Air Pollution on Human Health: New Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-23, January.
    9. Kifle T. Sebhatu & Fatemeh Taheri & Tekeste Berhanu & Miet Maertens & Steven Van Passel & Marijke D'Haese, 2021. "Beyond focus: Exploring variability of service provision of agricultural cooperatives," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(2), pages 207-231, June.
    10. Andrea Baranzini & Stefano Carattini & Linda Tesauro, 2021. "Designing Effective and Acceptable Road Pricing Schemes: Evidence from the Geneva Congestion Charge," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 79(3), pages 417-482, July.
    11. Pan, Ying & Wu, Junxi & Zhang, Yanjie & Zhang, Xianzhou & Yu, Chengqun, 2021. "Simultaneous enhancement of ecosystem services and poverty reduction through adjustments to subsidy policies relating to grassland use in Tibet, China," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    12. Jing Zhao & Yukari Nagai & Wei Gao & Tao Shen & Youming Fan, 2023. "The Effects of Interior Materials on the Restorativeness of Home Environments," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-11, July.
    13. Pan Zhang & Zhiguo Wang, 2019. "PM 2.5 Concentrations and Subjective Well-Being: Longitudinal Evidence from Aggregated Panel Data from Chinese Provinces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-13, March.
    14. Liyan Yu & Jerker Nilsson & Feng Zhan & Song Cheng, 2023. "Social Capital in Cooperative Memberships and Farmers’ Access to Bank Credit–Evidence from Fujian, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, February.
    15. Ming, Yaxin & Deng, Huixin & Wu, Xiaoyue, 2022. "The negative effect of air pollution on people's pro-environmental behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 72-87.
    16. Yanyun Li & Faqin Lin & Wenxiao Wang, 2022. "Environmental regulation and inward foreign direct investment: Evidence from the eleventh Five‐Year Plan in China," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 684-707, July.
    17. Nie, Yongyou & Cheng, Dandan & Liu, Kui, 2020. "The effectiveness of environmental authoritarianism: Evidence from China's administrative inquiry for environmental protection," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    18. Ma, Wanglin & Vatsa, Puneet & Zheng, Hongyun, 2022. "Cooking fuel choices and subjective well-being in rural China: Implications for a complete energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    19. Ordoñez, Pablo J., 2020. "Power Plants, Air Pollution, and Health in Colombia," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304284, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Lu Wang & Jianli Luo & Yuxia Liu, 2021. "Agricultural cooperatives participating in vegetable supply chain integration: A case study of a trinity cooperative in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-20, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:23:p:15639-:d:983306. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.