Descriptive statistics.

Waste-to-energy (WtE) projects use municipal waste to generate energy. While they increase local environmental and health risks, they also generate local environmental and economic benefits. If facility operator characteristics influence perceptions of risks and benefits, does public support for a WtE facility change if it is operated by a foreign firm? Using a survey experiment in Thailand (n = 829), we examine support for a hypothetical WtE plant operated by local Thai (reference category), Japanese (treatment 1), and Chinese (treatment 2) firms. We find that while respondents are less supportive of WtE plants operated by Chinese companies (“penalty for foreignness”), their support does not change for Japanese plants (neither penalty nor premium for foreignness). Importantly, while perceptions of local economic benefits increase support, perceptions of environmental benefits from reducing waste and landfills do not. Respondents support WtE plants when their communities experience air pollution from coal-fired power plants and when they support the Thai government’s decision to ban the manufacturing and sale of single-use plastics.垃圾发电（Waste-to-energy, WtE）项目以城市生活垃圾为原料生产能源。此类项目虽会提升本地的环境与健康风险，却也能带来本地环境与经济效益。若垃圾发电设施的运营主体特征会影响公众对其风险与收益的认知，那么当该设施由外资企业运营时，公众对其支持度是否会发生变化？本研究依托于泰国开展的一项调查实验（样本量n=829），考察公众对三类主体运营的假设性垃圾发电厂的支持度：泰国本地企业（参照组）、日本企业（实验组1）与中国企业（实验组2）。研究结果显示，受访者对中国企业运营的垃圾发电厂支持度更低（即存在"外来者惩罚"效应），但对日本企业运营的项目支持度无显著变化，既未出现外来者惩罚，也未获得外来者优待。值得注意的是，公众对本地经济效益的正向感知会提升支持度，但对通过减少垃圾与填埋场带来的环境效益的感知却无此正向作用。当受访者所在社区遭遇燃煤电厂引发的空气污染，或是支持泰国政府禁止一次性塑料生产与销售的决策时，对垃圾发电厂项目的支持度会显著提升。