Influence and mechanisms of perceived information disclosure in shaping public attitudes towards waste disposal facilities: Evidence from China

Waste disposal facilities are an indispensable infrastructure for modern urban development, and increasing public acceptance of such facilities contributes to sustainable urban development. Estimation results using the least squares method, based on widely representative questionnaire data, indicate that perception of government information disclosure has a significant positive impact on enhancing the public's willingness to accept waste disposal facilities. This finding is further confirmed not only when using instrumental variables approach to address potential endogeneity as well, but also by a series of robustness tests. The results of the heterogeneity analyses show that the positive impact of government information disclosure is present only in the sub-sample of those who have no religious trust and frequency of online socialization. Further findings support the idea that political trust and the perception of the government capacity to ensure public security are two fundamental mechanisms. In particular, trust in county government and perceptions of medical security are more likely to drive this positive effect. This study reveals the role of perceptions about information disclosure in shaping public attitudes toward public programs and provides new insights into facilitating the successful construction of public facilities.