When fear meets knowledge: The effects of risk aversion and policy information on sustainable pig carcass disposal under government regulation

Against the backdrop of recurrent African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks, this study establishes a behavioral baseline for carcass governance under China's pre-crisis regulatory environment. Integrating the fear appeal framework with mental accounting theory, we draw on unique household survey data to estimate how farmers' risk aversion toward command-and-control policies and their policy information acquisition ability shape sustainable disposal behavior. Our results show that fines exert limited deterrent effects, likely because they are encoded as manageable operating costs. Conversely, risk aversion toward detention significantly increases compliance. Furthermore, information acquisition ability directly promotes sustainable practices and amplifies the deterrent effect of detention. By establishing these micro-foundations, we identify detention and information navigation as central behavioral mechanisms within the regulatory toolkit under normal pre-ASF conditions. This provides a benchmark reference for capturing psychological processing mechanisms underlying responses to command-and-control policies and offers a robust pathway for advancing sustainable waste management in developing contexts.