Centre for Economic Research, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
General Department, Government College University, Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan.
Front Public Health. 2022 Jun 20;10:825387. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.825387. eCollection 2022.
Air pollution has been notoriously held accountable for a substantial number of deaths in several countries. Moreover, its negative impact on people's health and well-being has also been witnessed in countries where air pollution is below the recommended national levels. The urban cities of Pakistan are among the worst South Asian areas in terms of air pollution. Because of this problem, the health and well-being of citizens are affected. The present study investigates the impact of air pollution on urban residents' happiness and health. It analyzes their willingness to pay for pollution prevention and its determinants by employing the data obtained through a primary survey. Pakistanis are unaware of air pollution's effect on health and quality of life, therefore only 12.5% consider this problem very serious. The results confirm the significantly negative effect of air pollution on happiness. Concerning the willingness to pay, it is differentiated in the form of tax and social contribution. Pakistanis are willing to pay more in social contribution in return for different environmental attributes. The results show that only 13% of respondents are not willing to pay for income contribution to improve air quality reporting indifferent attitude and insufficient knowledge of the environment. Our findings suggest that their apprehension concerning the environment influences people's willingness to pay. The study concludes that despite Pakistan's underdeveloped economic stature and its poor and flexible budgetary allocation for the betterment of air quality, most Pakistanis showed their willingness to pay for environmental protection. The government and environmental organizations ought to generate consensus among the general population about environmental importance, individual responsibility, and social duties thereby lessening the free-rider problem and reducing air pollution for better social welfare.
空气污染在多个国家造成了大量死亡，这是众所周知的。此外，在空气污染低于推荐国家标准的国家，也已经看到了其对人们健康和福祉的负面影响。巴基斯坦的城市是南亚空气污染最严重的地区之一。由于这个问题，公民的健康和福祉受到影响。本研究调查了空气污染对城市居民幸福和健康的影响。它通过使用通过初步调查获得的数据，分析了他们对污染预防的支付意愿及其决定因素。巴基斯坦人不知道空气污染对健康和生活质量的影响，因此只有 12.5%的人认为这个问题非常严重。结果证实了空气污染对幸福有显著的负面影响。关于支付意愿，它以税收和社会贡献的形式存在差异。巴基斯坦人愿意在社会贡献方面支付更多费用，以换取不同的环境属性。结果表明，只有 13%的受访者不愿意为改善空气质量报告支付收入贡献，因为他们对环境持漠不关心的态度，对环境的了解不足。我们的研究结果表明，他们对环境的担忧影响了人们的支付意愿。研究得出结论，尽管巴基斯坦经济地位不发达，改善空气质量的预算分配不足且灵活，但大多数巴基斯坦人表示愿意为环境保护支付费用。政府和环境组织应该在公众中就环境重要性、个人责任和社会责任达成共识，从而减少搭便车问题并减少空气污染，以实现更好的社会福利。
