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The Impacts of Other-Regarding Preferences and Ethical Choice on Environmental Outcomes: A Review of the Literature

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  • Van Long, Ngo

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature concerning the impacts of other-regarding preferences and ethical choice on environmental outcomes when agents behave strategically. We consider two types of other-regarding preferences: (i) envy or status concern, (ii) altruism and inequality aversion. We contrast these preference-based approaches with the ethical approach in which some choices are made on ethical ground and thus are not necessarily utility-maximizing. Models exhibiting other-regarding preferences do not yield unambiguous results concerning the effects of strategic behavior on the environment. In contrast, models in which choices are motivated by Kantian ethics display more robust results.

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  • Van Long, Ngo, 2016. "The Impacts of Other-Regarding Preferences and Ethical Choice on Environmental Outcomes: A Review of the Literature," Strategic Behavior and the Environment, now publishers, vol. 6(1-2), pages 1-35, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:now:jnlsbe:102.00000065t
    DOI: 10.1561/102.00000065
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    3. Bezin, Emeline & Ponthière, Gregory, 2019. "The tragedy of the commons and socialization: Theory and policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    4. Thomas Eichner & Rüdiger Pethig, 2022. "International Environmental Agreements When Countries Behave Morally," CESifo Working Paper Series 10090, CESifo.
    5. Eichner, Thomas & Pethig, Rüdiger, 2024. "International environmental agreements when countries behave morally," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate governance; Kantian equilibrium; other-regarding preferences; positional externalities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q31 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources

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