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Climate change and individual behavior

Author

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  • René Bernard
  • Panagiota Tzamourani
  • Michael Weber

Abstract

This paper studies the causal effect of providing information about climate change on individuals' willingness to pay to offset carbon emissions in a randomized control trial. Receiving truthful information about ways to reduce CO2 emissions increases individuals' willingness to pay for CO2 offsetting relative to the control group. Individuals receiving information about the behavior of peers react similarly to those receiving information about scientific research. Indi-viduals' responses vary depending on their socio-demographic characteristics and also along a rich set of prior beliefs and concerns regarding climate change. In a follow-up survey, we study the endogenous information acquisition of survey participants and show that individuals choose information that aligns with their views. Individuals who choose to receive information about climate change have a higher willingness to pay for CO2 offsets.

Suggested Citation

  • René Bernard & Panagiota Tzamourani & Michael Weber, 2022. "Climate change and individual behavior," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242592, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association, revised 2022.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc21:242592
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    Cited by:

    1. Golin, M. & Rauh, C., 2022. "The Impact of Fear of Automation," Janeway Institute Working Papers 2229, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    2. Meinerding, Christoph & Poinelli, Andrea & Schüler, Yves, 2022. "Inflation expectations and climate concern," Discussion Papers 12/2022, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    3. Mayer, Maximilian, 2023. "Climate change concerns and information spillovers from socially-connected friends," IWH Discussion Papers 2/2023, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    4. Schleich, Joachim & Alsheimer, Sven, 2022. "How much are individuals willing to pay to offset their carbon footprint? The role of information disclosure and social norms," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S10/2022, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate change; information treatment; willingness to pay; CO2 compensation; information acquisition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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