Determinants of Residents’ Willingness to Pay for Water Quality Improvements in Haikou, China: Application of CVM and ISM Approaches

Exploring the determinants of residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for water quality improvements is essential protecting and formulating effective governance policies. This paper applies double-bounded dichotomous contingent valuation method (CVM) determine WTP improvements, calculate average annual Haikou residents explore factors influencing improvements. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) then used further analyze association hierarchy between factors. The results show that (1) Residents are willing an 28.42 RMB/household/year total value in at least 5.58 × 108 RMB; (2) age, education level, income minor family member government trust main significantly (p < 0.05) influence urban WTP; (3) among identified as affecting WTP, deeper root include educational attainment, ultimately, participate through indirect (government trust, presence minors). study allows in-depth detailed understanding provides a practical relevant guide tropics.