Does education increase pro-environmental willingness to pay? Evidence from Chinese household survey

China, as the most populated country with severe ecological deterioration, has put much effort on environmental protection. The success of environmental protection relies not only on administrative regulations but also mainly on public supports, especially how much the public is willing to pay for relevant environmental improvements. It is widely accepted that higher educational attainment promotes pro-environmental behavior. However, the increase of pro-environmental willingness to pay (WTP) associated with higher education attainment and the identification of their causality has been missing. In this study, the authors investigate into how higher level of educational attainment contributes to WTP based on household survey data. Using the enactment of the Compulsory Schooling Law as an instrumental variable, it is significant that higher education would increase both the incentive and the amount of WTP for environmental improvements, which also implies that governmental efforts on public education may contribute to environmental protection by promoting public supports. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.