IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/ijofsd/121945.html

Testing for the Best Instrument to Generate Sustainable Food Consumption

Author

Listed:
  • Panzone, Luca
  • Perino, Grischa
  • Swanson, Timothy
  • Leung, Denise

Abstract

The increase in the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere in the last centuries, and the subsequent increase in temperature, has been a widely studied area in the last few decades. Climate change has become a key item on the political agenda due to concerns regarding the sustainability of current human consumption for future generations. Consumption of food and agricultural goods constitutes an important part of household based GHG emissions, and the relatively low costs associated with environmental improvements make it an interesting area of study to understand behavioural changes. Despite general agreement on the need to curb the amount of GHG emissions worldwide, little evidence exists regarding the best instruments policymakers can employ to stimulate changes toward more sustainable consumption. The present work explores which instruments are most effective in fostering change to more environmentally friendly food consumption. The instruments tested are CO2 labelling, GHG abatement subsidy and product-specific bans. We used a simulated online shopping trip in supermarkets in the Greater London area in the United Kingdom, where respondents shopped in four product categories: cola, milk, meat (chicken and beef), and butter/margarine. Consumer preferences reveal that, in the presence of these instruments, quantity instruments performed better than price incentives and labelling.

Suggested Citation

  • Panzone, Luca & Perino, Grischa & Swanson, Timothy & Leung, Denise, 2011. "Testing for the Best Instrument to Generate Sustainable Food Consumption," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 2(3), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:ijofsd:121945
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.121945
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/121945/files/Panzone-ok.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.121945?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Pearce, 2003. "The Social Cost of Carbon and its Policy Implications," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(3), pages 362-384.
    2. Martin L. Weitzman, 1974. "Prices vs. Quantities," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(4), pages 477-491.
    3. Anthoff, David & Hepburn, Cameron & Tol, Richard S.J., 2009. "Equity weighting and the marginal damage costs of climate change," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 836-849, January.
    4. Eckel, Catherine C. & Grossman, Philip J. & Johnston, Rachel M., 2005. "An experimental test of the crowding out hypothesis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(8), pages 1543-1560, August.
    5. Cooter, Robert D, 2006. "The Intrinsic Value of Obeying a Law: Economic Analysis of the Internal Viewpoint," Berkeley Program in Law and Economics, Working Paper Series qt2kc0f6mq, Berkeley Program in Law and Economics.
    6. Grischa Perino & Luca A. Panzone & Timothy Swanson, 2011. "Crowding-in, crowding-out and over-crowding: The interaction between price and quantity based instruments and intrinsic motivation," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science (CBESS) 11-10, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    7. Gary S. Becker & Kevin M. Murphy & Michael Grossman, 2006. "The Market for Illegal Goods: The Case of Drugs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(1), pages 38-60, February.
    8. McGregor, JoAnn, 1994. "Climate change and involuntary migration: implications for food security," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 120-132, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ariyawardana, Anoma & Lim-Camacho, Lilly & Crimp, Steven & Wellington, Michael & Somogyi, Simon, 2018. "Consumer Response to Climate Adaptation Strategies in the Food Sector: An Australian Scenario," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 383-393.
    2. Revoredo-Giha, Cesar & Chalmers, Neil & Akaichi, Faical, "undated". "Measuring the trade-off between greenhouse gas emissions and nutrition due to carbon consumption taxes in the UK," 92nd Annual Conference, April 16-18, 2018, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 273481, Agricultural Economics Society.
    3. Hempel, Corinna & Feucht, Yvonne & Zander, Katrin, 2022. "The Gap between Citizens’ Concerns and Consumers’ Actions: Which Factors Impair the Adoption of Food-related Mitigation Options?," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 13(01), January.
    4. Lanz, Bruno & Wurlod, Jules-Daniel & Panzone, Luca & Swanson, Timothy, 2018. "The behavioral effect of Pigovian regulation: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 190-205.
    5. Ammann, Jeanine & Arbenz, Andreia & Mack, Gabriele & Siegrist, Michael, 2025. "Consumer support of policy measures to increase sustainability in food consumption," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    6. Cesar Revoredo-Giha & Neil Chalmers & Faical Akaichi, 2018. "Simulating the Impact of Carbon Taxes on Greenhouse Gas Emission and Nutrition in the UK," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, January.
    7. Li, Xiaogu & Jensen, Kimberly L. & Clark, Christopher D. & Lambert, Dayton M., 2016. "Consumer willingness to pay for beef grown using climate friendly production practices," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 93-106.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Buchholz Wolfgang & Heindl Peter, 2015. "Ökonomische Herausforderungen des Klimawandels," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 324-350, December.
    2. Lea S. Svenningsen & Bo Jellesmark Thorsen, 2020. "Preferences for Distributional Impacts of Climate Policy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 75(1), pages 1-24, January.
    3. David Anthoff & Johannes Emmerling, 2019. "Inequality and the Social Cost of Carbon," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(2), pages 243-273.
    4. Jussi Lintunen & Lauri Vilmi, 2021. "Optimal Emission Prices Over the Business Cycles," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 80(1), pages 135-167, September.
    5. Mark Delucchi & Don McCubbin, 2011. "External Costs of Transport in the United States," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 15, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Richard S.J. Tol, 2021. "Estimates of the social cost of carbon have not changed over time," Working Paper Series 0821, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    7. Wei, Yi-Ming & Mi, Zhi-Fu & Huang, Zhimin, 2015. "Climate policy modeling: An online SCI-E and SSCI based literature review," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 57(PA), pages 70-84.
    8. William D. Nordhaus, 2011. "Estimates of the Social Cost of Carbon: Background and Results from the RICE-2011 Model," NBER Working Papers 17540, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. David Anthoff & Robert J. Nicholls & Richard S.J. Tol, 2007. "Sea Level Rise And Equity Weighting," Working Papers FNU-136, Research unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University, revised May 2007.
    10. Vale, Petterson Molina, 2016. "The changing climate of climate change economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 12-19.
    11. Anthoff, David, 2009. "Optimal Global Dynamic Carbon Taxation," Papers WP278, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    12. Delucchi, Mark A. & McCubbin, Donald R., 2010. "External Costs of Transport in the U.S," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt13n8v8gq, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    13. Dritan Osmani, 2013. "Valuing Equally the Environmental Goods in Rich and Poor Countries in a Post-Kyoto World," Czech Economic Review, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, vol. 7(2), pages 073-099, July.
    14. Desiree A. Desierto & Geoffrey M. Ducanes, 2013. "Philippines," Chapters, in: Hal Hill & Maria Socorro Gochoco-Bautista (ed.), Asia Rising, chapter 13, pages 385-407, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Tol, Richard S.J., 2013. "Targets for global climate policy: An overview," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 911-928.
    16. Fleurbaey, Marc & Zuber, Stéphane, 2015. "Discounting, risk and inequality: A general approach," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 34-49.
    17. David Anthoff & Robert Nicholls & Richard Tol, 2010. "The economic impact of substantial sea-level rise," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 321-335, April.
    18. Wesseh, Presley K. & Lin, Boqiang, 2016. "Modeling environmental policy with and without abatement substitution: A tradeoff between economics and environment?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 34-43.
    19. Hal Hill & Maria Socorro Gochoco-Bautista (ed.), 2013. "Asia Rising," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15022.
    20. Lintunen, Jussi & Kuusela, Olli-Pekka, 2018. "Business cycles and emission trading with banking," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 397-417.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:ijofsd:121945. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/centmde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.