The Impacts of the Sanitation Campaign on Improving Living Environments: Evidence From Rural China

Qingen Gai, Chengzheng Li and Xiong Xiao

Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2025, vol. 69, issue 3, 625-648

Abstract: To narrow the gap in living environments between rural and urban areas, the Chinese government launched a nationwide sanitation campaign to improve the rural living environment. This paper uses rural household survey data and employs an econometric approach to evaluate the various effects of this top‐down sanitation campaign. The empirical results indicate that the environmental benefits of the sanitation campaign are statistically significant, whereas the short‐term health and income effects are not. Villages completing the sanitation campaign (or with higher completion scores) enjoy a relatively better living environment: a statistically significant decline in the probability of having household waste, domestic sewage and human and animal excrement (odour) near homes. In addition, we also find that rural sanitation campaigns stimulate environmentally friendly behaviours of rural residents. JEL Classification: P28, P25, Q52

Date: 2025
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