Social Capital, Perception of Environmental Quality, and Public Environmental Coproduction Behavior: Evidence from China

In the field of environmental governance, where responsibility boundaries and governance effectiveness are relatively ambiguous, a clear and systematic theoretical explanation and an empirical test on the internal transmission mechanism of social capital transforming into public environmental cooperation production behavior have not yet been formed. This study introduces perception of environmental quality as a mediating variable to explore the cognitive path through which social capital influences the public’s environmental cooperation production behavior. An empirical test is conducted based on questionnaire survey data collected from Pei County in China. The results show that social capital exerts a significant positive effect on public environmental coproduction behavior, among which social networks have the strongest impact, followed by social participation, while social trust has the weakest effect. In addition, perception of environmental quality plays a positive mediating role in the relationship between social capital and public environmental coproduction behavior. The study not only provides a new explanatory path for understanding the micro-drivers of environmental cooperative production but also offers practical implications for local governments to promote environmental participation by fostering social capital and enhancing the public’s sense of environmental gain.