The comprehensive utilization of crop straw is critical to green development of agriculture, as it mitigates open-field burning pollution while enhancing biomass energy production. Eco-compensation policy plays a crucial role in promoting straw utilization. However, is there a sustained pattern of comprehensive utilization of crop straw by households following the termination of the eco-compensation policy? In this paper, we used survey data from 688 peasant households in Hubei Province to explore the impact of eco-compensation on households’ continued behavior in comprehensive straw utilization. The propensity score matching method and the endogenous switching probit model were applied to evaluate households’ continued behavior in comprehensive straw utilization, addressing self-selection bias and endogenous problems. The results showed that participation in eco-compensation can increase the probability of households’ continued behavior in comprehensive straw utilization by 15.9 %∼23.0 %. Additionally, eco-compensation can influence households’ continued behavior through enhanced environmental awareness stemming from policy participation. Furthermore, a positive spillover effect in eco-compensation was identified. These findings have substantial implications for improving straw utilization policies in developing countries or regions.