Purpose: This study aims to estimate households' willingness to
pay (WTP) in the Mekong River Delta for the improvement of
solid waste (SW) management and identify factors influencing
willingness to pay for the improvement program. Then, based on
the results, this research proposed some policy implications for
better SW management.
Research methodology: The research employed both Contingent
Valuation Methodology - CVM employed parametric and non
parametric approaches to estimate WTP and Logit model to
identify the determinants of WTP.
Results: The results from a random survey of 400 observations
from 3 main cities in the Mekong River Delta (MRD) indicate
that households’ willingness to pay level is from 86,000
Vietnamese Dong (VND) to 110,000 VND/month/household for
the non-parametric and parametric approach, respectively (US$1
was equal to 22,890 VND on June 30th, 2021). The results also
determine the factors influencing the decision to pay for the
program, including bid level, households who have already
classified waste, households who intend to support the program,
and households’ income.
Limitations: In future research, survey areas should be expanded
to other developing countries in order to compare and provide a
base for proposing better waste management programs in
developing countries.
Contribution: Future studies should apply both approaches to
check the consistency of willingness to pay value elicited. Besides,
in order to encourage households to participate in the waste
classification program, the authorities need to raise awareness and
encourage higher-income households to participate in advance