Influential impacts of combined government policies for safe disposal of dead pigs on farmer behavior.

Improper disposal of dead pigs by pig farmers may have an adverse impact on the ecological environment and food safety. In this paper, disposal of dead pigs by pig farmers in four main pig production provinces in China (Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, and Hunan) was empirically investigated. Then, pig farmers' awareness and evaluation of current combined government policies for the safe disposal of dead pigs were analyzed. Furthermore, the influential effects of combined government policies on the disposal of dead pigs by pig farmers were examined using Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL). Results indicated that the issue of disposal of dead pigs by farmers was very complex and was influenced by the combination of subsidy and compensation, facility and technology, and supervision and punishment policies. The findings also indicated that the different types of policies had different effects and interacted with each other. Among these three combinations, supervision and punishment policies were the most influential policies and facility and technology policies were in most urgent need to improve for regulating the current state of the disposal of dead pigs by farmers. These findings have implications for sustainable pig production.