IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sdo/regaec/v34y2025i2_8.html

Pro-environmental behavior in Costa Rica: A case study on price premiums for coffee certification

Author

Listed:
  • Valenciano-Salazar, Jorge A.

  • André, Francisco J.

  • Soliño, Mario

Abstract

This study examines the willingness to pay (WTP) of Costa Rican consumers for certified coffee. Two marketed coffee ecolabels (Fairtrade and Carbon Neutral) are considered, as well as non-marketed environmental certification (ISO 14001) to allow for comparison. A discrete choice experiment reveals that consumers are willing to pay a significant price premium for any of these three certifications. In a context where ensure equitable and sustainable conditions in the production of agricultural goods and taking action to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gases is imperative, our results show that certified coffee, particularly fair trade and carbon neutral coffee, receive price premiums from Costa Rican consumers. Thus, eco-labels can serve as a means of promoting more sustainable practices within the coffee value chain.

Suggested Citation

  • Valenciano-Salazar, Jorge A. & André, Francisco J. & Soliño, Mario, 2025. "Pro-environmental behavior in Costa Rica: A case study on price premiums for coffee certification," Revista Galega de Economía, University of Santiago de Compostela. Faculty of Economics and Business., vol. 34(2), pages 1-18.
    • Handle: RePEc:sdo:regaec:v:34:y:2025:i:2_8
    DOI: 10.15304/rge.34.2.10256
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.15304/rge.34.2.10256
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.15304/rge.34.2.10256?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. Madhu Khanna, 2001. "Non‐Mandatory Approaches to Environmental Protection," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 291-324, July.
    2. Christopher L. Gilbert, 2024. "The EU Deforestation Regulation," EuroChoices, The Agricultural Economics Society, vol. 23(3), pages 64-70, December.
    3. Galarraga, Ibon & Markandya, Anil, 2004. "Economic techniques to estimate the demand for sustainable products: a case study for fair trade and organic coffee in the United Kingdom," Economia Agraria y Recursos Naturales, Spanish Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 4(07), pages 1-26.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. repec:osf:socarx:95xbj_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Kai Nomura & Masashi Yamamoto, 2025. "Plastic reduction and firm characteristics: Evidence from (non-) financial information in Japan," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 27(3), pages 405-429, July.
    3. Johannes Urpelainen, 2011. "Frontrunners and Laggards: The Strategy of Environmental Regulation under Uncertainty," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 50(3), pages 325-346, November.
    4. Codron, Jean-Marie & Adanacioğlu, Hakan & Aubert, Magali & Bouhsina, Zouhair & El Mekki, Abdelkader Ait & Rousset, Sylvain & Tozanli, Selma & Yercan, Murat, 2014. "The role of market forces and food safety institutions in the adoption of sustainable farming practices: The case of the fresh tomato export sector in Morocco and Turkey," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(P1), pages 268-280.
    5. Fenna Arnoldussen & Mark J. Koetse & Sander M. de Bruyn & Onno Kuik, 2022. "What Are People Willing to Pay for Social Sustainability? A Choice Experiment among Dutch Consumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-21, November.
    6. Petra Andries & Ute Stephan, 2019. "Environmental Innovation and Firm Performance: How Firm Size and Motives Matter," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-17, June.
    7. Tang, Maogang & Li, Xiuzhen & Zhang, Yun & Wu, Yingtao & Wu, Baijun, 2020. "From command-and-control to market-based environmental policies: Optimal transition timing and China’s heterogeneous environmental effectiveness," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 1-10.
    8. Takahashi, Ryo & Todo, Yasuyuki & Funaki, Yukihiko, 2018. "How Can We Motivate Consumers to Purchase Certified Forest Coffee? Evidence From a Laboratory Randomized Experiment Using Eye-trackers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 107-121.
    9. Galarraga, Ibon & González-Eguino, Mikel & Markandya, Anil, 2011. "Willingness to pay and price elasticities of demand for energy-efficient appliances: Combining the hedonic approach and demand systems," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(S1), pages 66-74.
    10. Runhui Lin & Yuan Gui & Zaiyang Xie & Lu Liu, 2019. "Green Governance and International Business Strategies of Emerging Economies’ Multinational Enterprises: A Multiple-Case Study of Chinese Firms in Pollution-Intensive Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-32, February.
    11. Xue Lei & Jian Xu & Ziyan Zhang, 2025. "Can the Energy Rights Trading System Become the New Engine for Corporate Carbon Reduction? Evidence from China’s Heavy-Polluting Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-19, September.
    12. Achabou, Mohamed Akli & Dekhili, Sihem, 2013. "Luxury and sustainable development: Is there a match?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 1896-1903.
    13. Niccolò Pisani & Ans Kolk & Václav Ocelík & Ganling Wu, 2019. "Does it pay for cities to be green? An investigation of FDI inflows and environmental sustainability," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 2(1), pages 62-85, March.
    14. de la Vega, Pablo, 2026. "The European Union deforestation regulation: The impact on Argentina," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    15. Tommy Lundgren & Per-Olov Marklund, 2015. "Climate policy, environmental performance, and profits," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 225-235, December.
    16. Andrea Marchini & Chiara Riganelli & Francesco Diotallevi & Bianca Polenzani, 2021. "Label information and consumer behaviour: evidence on drinking milk sector," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-24, December.
    17. Runa Sarkar, 2008. "Public policy and corporate environmental behaviour: a broader view," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(5), pages 281-297, September.
    18. Xumin Zhang & Hayk Khachatryan, 2023. "Does the Perceived Effectiveness of Voluntary Conservation Programs Affect Household Adoption of Sustainable Landscaping Practices?," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-17, July.
    19. Sabyasachi Das, 2016. "Certification Under Oligopolistic Competition," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(1), pages 251-271, September.
    20. Paul Pecorino, 2013. "Monopolistic Competition and Public Good Provision with By‐product Firms," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 875-893, December.
    21. Tatoglu, Ekrem & Bayraktar, Erkan & Sahadev, Sunil & Demirbag, Mehmet & Glaister, Keith W., 2014. "Determinants of voluntary environmental management practices by MNE subsidiaries," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 536-548.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q21 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

    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:sdo:regaec:v:34:y:2025:i:2_8. 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: Marisa Chas-Amil (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feusces.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.