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Effects of Information on Environmental Quality in Developing Countries

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  • E. Somanathan

Abstract

How does information on environmental risks obtained by individuals in developing countries affect environmental quality? The literature reveals that for issues like water quality and pesticides, information affects individual behavior and risks are reduced through individual action. However, even if information were to become widely available in developing countries, unless regulation is also strengthened, environmental risks will remain at high levels relative to developed countries. While education appears to raise the demand for environmental quality, there is no systematic developing-country evidence that this demand translates into increased supply through the political process and government regulation. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.

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  • E. Somanathan, 2010. "Effects of Information on Environmental Quality in Developing Countries," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 4(2), pages 275-292, Summer.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:renvpo:v:4:y:2010:i:2:p:275-292
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    5. Rajapakshe, Sisira & Termansen, Mette & Paavola, Jouni, 2022. "Valuing Water Service Improvements through Revealed Preference: Averting Behaviour Method," MPRA Paper 115623, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Jessoe, Katrina, 2013. "Improved source, improved quality? Demand for drinking water quality in rural India," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 460-475.
    7. Barnwal, Prabhat & van Geen, Alexander & von der Goltz, Jan & Singh, Chander Kumar, 2017. "Demand for environmental quality information and household response: Evidence from well-water arsenic testing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 160-192.
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    9. Cook, Joseph & Wagner, Jake & Newell, Gunnar, 2020. "A Decision Support Tool for Rural Water Supply Planning," EfD Discussion Paper 20-6, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    10. Massimo Filippini & Suchita Srinivasan, 2020. "Voluntary adoption of environmental standards and limited attention: Evidence from the food and beverage industry in Vietnam," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 20/338, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    11. Yokoo, Hide-Fumi & Harada, Tetsuya, 2023. "What makes green persuasion effective? Evidence from a community-financed sanitation program in Indonesia," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    12. Göran Bostedt & Agneta Hörnell & Gert Nyberg, 2016. "Agroforestry extension and dietary diversity – an analysis of the importance of fruit and vegetable consumption in West Pokot, Kenya," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 271-284, February.
    13. Göran Bostedt & Agneta Hörnell & Gert Nyberg, 2016. "Agroforestry extension and dietary diversity – an analysis of the importance of fruit and vegetable consumption in West Pokot, Kenya," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 271-284, February.
    14. Dendup, Ngawang & Arimura, Toshi H., 2019. "Information leverage: The adoption of clean cooking fuel in Bhutan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 181-195.
    15. Göran Bostedt & Lonah Mukoya & Deborah Muricho & Gert Nyberg, 2021. "Saving and borrowing behaviour among agropastoralists in West Pokot County, Kenya," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(6), pages 1043-1062, August.
    16. Matthew Krupoff & Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak & Alexander van Geen, 2020. "Evaluating Strategies to Reduce Arsenic Poisoning in South Asia: A View from the Social Sciences," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 37(2), pages 21-44, September.
    17. Ahmad, Husnain F. & Gibson, Matthew & Nadeem, Fatiq & Nasim, Sanval & Rezaee, Arman, 2022. "Forecasts: Consumption, Production, and Behavioral Responses," IZA Discussion Papers 15831, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Ghani, Gairuzazmi M., 2012. "Does trade liberalization effect energy consumption?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 285-290.
    19. Massimo Filippini & Suchita Srinivasan, 2022. "Adoption of environmental standards and a lack of awareness: evidence from the food and beverage industry in Vietnam," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 24(3), pages 307-340, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

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