Micromotives in Global Environmental Policy

Protecting ourselves cost-effectively from such global environmental threats as climate change requires a good understanding of the behavioral underpinnings that drive choice under risk and uncertainty, lead to the design of efficient and effective protocols for cooperative action across nations, and create incentives for different control strategies within nations. Researchers can use experimental economic methods to gain insight into these micromotives of climate policy by testing the robustness of theoretical predictions, and by recognizing new patterns of choice. Experiments can be used to sharpen the best guesses guiding policy by identifying how decision makers can try to get more environmental progress at less cost by accounting for the relevant determinants of behavior.