A causal analysis of the determinants of trust of the Forest Administration in the prefecture where the forest environmental tax was introduced

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants, and interrelationships, of trust of the Forest Administration by using structural equation modeling with questionnaire data from 1 500 residents in six prefectures. The proposed model demonstrates that value similarity, ability and intention are determinants of the trust of the Forest Administration. There is a causal relationship of intention to value similarity. Furthermore, multiple group analysis in the structural equation modeling showed that the group with high interest in local forest problems showed a relatively large influence of intention and value similarity, compared to the low interest group, where intention and ability had a relatively large influence.