Multidimensional trust and its impact on the willingness to pay for ecological compensation in China’s transboundary watersheds—taking the largest tributary of the Yellow River as an example

Transboundary watershed ecological compensation in China is a kind of trust-based cooperation between the upstream and downstream. However, existing research does not further detail multidimensional trust to explore its impact on willingness to pay (WTP). From the perspective of multidimensional trust, it is helpful to clarify the internal motivations for public participation, so as to realize the transformation from current government-led economic incentive mode to normative guidance of effective social behavior. Combined with the specific background of China’s ecological compensation, this study divides the downstream public trust into three dimensions: trust in self-governance capabilities, trust in upstream governance capabilities, and trust in local government. The empirical results show that the downstream trust in their own governance ability has a positive impact on their WTP, and when the downstream trust in the upstream governance capacity, the higher their WTP. Moreover, the more trust the local government, the higher the WTP.