IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/climat/v134y2016i1p87-99.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can verifiable information cut through the noise about climate protection? An experimental auction test

Author

Listed:
  • Onur Sapci
  • Aaron Wood
  • Jason Shogren
  • Jolene Green

Abstract

Using an experimental auction, we explore how verifiable information affects the willingness to pay (WTP) for two climate friendly goods given the politicized climate change debate. We test whether the dissemination of (scientific) verifiable information lets subjects cut through the media noise. We define our baseline by first examining how noisy information (pro and con) about climate change affects WTP. We then consider how third party verifiable information within this noisy information affects WTP. Our results suggest subjects could cut through noisy information to process verifiable information. We find a significant WTP premium for climate protection. The verifiable information treatment increases the premium for both shade-grown coffee (by 51 %) and recycled paper (by 48 %). This suggests the WTP premium for climate change depends on the available information flow and the characteristics of the climate friendly good. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Suggested Citation

  • Onur Sapci & Aaron Wood & Jason Shogren & Jolene Green, 2016. "Can verifiable information cut through the noise about climate protection? An experimental auction test," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 87-99, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:134:y:2016:i:1:p:87-99
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-015-1502-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10584-015-1502-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10584-015-1502-3?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Toman, Michael & Shogren, Jason, 2000. "Climate Change Policy," RFF Working Paper Series dp-00-22, Resources for the Future.
    2. Shogren, Jason F. & Margolis, Michael & Koo, Cannon & List, John A., 2001. "A random nth-price auction," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 409-421, December.
    3. Huffman, Wallace E. & Tegene, Abebayehu, 2002. "Public Acceptance of and Benefits from Agricultural Biotechnology: a Key Role for Verifiable Information," ISU General Staff Papers 200201010800001402, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    4. Johnston, Robert J. & Roheim, Cathy A. & Donath, Holger & Asche, Frank, 2001. "Measuring Consumer Preferences For Ecolabeled Seafood: An International Comparison," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 26(1), pages 1-20, July.
    5. Johannes Diederich & Timo Goeschl, 2014. "Willingness to Pay for Voluntary Climate Action and Its Determinants: Field-Experimental Evidence," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 57(3), pages 405-429, March.
    6. John C. Whitehead, 1995. "Willingness to Pay for Quality Improvements: Comparative Statics and Interpretation of Contingent Valuation Results," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 71(2), pages 207-215.
    7. van Ravenswaay, Eileen O. & Blend, Jeffrey R., 1999. "Consumer Demand For Ecolabeled Apples: Results From Econometric Estimation," Staff Paper Series 11673, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    8. Wesley Nimon & John Beghin, 1999. "Are Eco-Labels Valuable? Evidence From the Apparel Industry," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(4), pages 801-811.
    9. Matthew Rousu & Wallace E. Huffman & Jason F. Shogren & Abebayehu Tegene, 2007. "Effects And Value Of Verifiable Information In A Controversial Market: Evidence From Lab Auctions Of Genetically Modified Food," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 45(3), pages 409-432, July.
    10. Martin Achtnicht, 2012. "German car buyers’ willingness to pay to reduce CO 2 emissions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 679-697, August.
    11. Ju-Chin Huang & Timothy C. Haab & John C. Whitehead, "undated". "Willingness to Pay for Quality Improvements: Can Revealed and Stated Preferences Data be Combined?," Working Papers 9704, East Carolina University, Department of Economics.
    12. McConnell, K. E., 1990. "Models for referendum data: The structure of discrete choice models for contingent valuation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 19-34, January.
    13. Botzen, W.J.W. & van den Bergh, J.C.J.M., 2012. "Risk attitudes to low-probability climate change risks: WTP for flood insurance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 151-166.
    14. Huang, Ju-Chin & Haab, Timothy C. & Whitehead, John C., 1997. "Willingness to Pay for Quality Improvements: Should Revealed and Stated Preference Data Be Combined?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 240-255, November.
    15. Blackman, Allen & Ã valos-Sartorio, Beatriz & Chow, Jeffrey, 2008. "Land Cover Change in Mixed Agroforestry: Shade Coffee in El Salvador," RFF Working Paper Series dp-08-25-efd, Resources for the Future.
    16. Corsi, Alessandro & Novelli, Silvia, 2002. "Consumers' Willingness to Pay a Price for Organic Beef Meat," 2002 International Congress, August 28-31, 2002, Zaragoza, Spain 24923, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. A. Colin Cameron & Pravin K. Trivedi, 2010. "Microeconometrics Using Stata, Revised Edition," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, number musr, March.
    18. Schelling, Thomas C, 1992. "Some Economics of Global Warming," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 1-14, March.
    19. Aguilar, Francisco X. & Vlosky, Richard P., 2007. "Consumer willingness to pay price premiums for environmentally certified wood products in the U.S," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(8), pages 1100-1112, May.
    20. Kotchen, Matthew J. & Boyle, Kevin J. & Leiserowitz, Anthony A., 2013. "Willingness-to-pay and policy-instrument choice for climate-change policy in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 617-625.
    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. Onur Sapci & Ayse Sapci, 0. "Consumer Perception of Food Expiration Labels: “Sell By” Versus “Expires On”," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 0, pages 1-17.
    2. Khan, Muhammad Jawad & Atallah, Shadi S. & Kalaitzandonakes, Maria H. & Ellison, Brenna, 2022. "Consumer willingness to pay for products derived from diversified forests: the case of tree syrups," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322464, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Onur Sapci & Ayse Sapci, 2020. "Consumer Perception of Food Expiration Labels: “Sell By” Versus “Expires On”," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(4), pages 673-689, October.
    4. Thunström, Linda & Gilbert, Ben & Ritten, Chian Jones, 2018. "Nudges that hurt those already hurting – distributional and unintended effects of salience nudges," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 267-282.
    5. Onur Sapci, 2021. "The impact of environmental economics class on college students` future temperature expectations," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(3), pages 1887-1897.

    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. Onur Sapci & Ayse Sapci, 2020. "Consumer Perception of Food Expiration Labels: “Sell By” Versus “Expires On”," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(4), pages 673-689, October.
    2. Onur Sapci & Ayse Sapci, 0. "Consumer Perception of Food Expiration Labels: “Sell By” Versus “Expires On”," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 0, pages 1-17.
    3. Hallstein, Eric & Villas-Boas, Sofia Berto, 2009. "Are Consumers Color Blind?: an empirical investigation of a traffic light advisory for sustainable seafood," CUDARE Working Papers 120535, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    4. Alberini, Anna & Ščasný, Milan & Bigano, Andrea, 2018. "Policy- v. individual heterogeneity in the benefits of climate change mitigation: Evidence from a stated-preference survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 565-575.
    5. Cunha-e-Sa, Maria A. & Ducla-Soares, Maria M., 1999. "Specification Tests for Mixed Demand Systems with an Emphasis on Combining Contingent Valuation and Revealed Data," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 215-233, September.
    6. Simões, Paula & Barata, Eduardo & Cruz, Luís, 2013. "Joint estimation using revealed and stated preference data: An application using a national forest," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 249-266.
    7. Gren, Ing-Marie, 2008. "Adaptation and mitigation strategies for controlling stochastic water pollution: An application to the Baltic Sea," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2-3), pages 337-347, June.
    8. John C. Whitehead & Subhrendu K. Pattanayak & George L. Van Houtven & Brett R. Gelso, 2008. "Combining Revealed And Stated Preference Data To Estimate The Nonmarket Value Of Ecological Services: An Assessment Of The State Of The Science," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 872-908, December.
    9. Huffman, Wallace E. & Rousu, Matthew & Shogren, Jason F. & Tegene, Abebayehu, 2007. "The effects of prior beliefs and learning on consumers' acceptance of genetically modified foods," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 193-206, May.
    10. Alló, Maria & Loureiro, Maria L., 2014. "The role of social norms on preferences towards climate change policies: A meta-analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 563-574.
    11. Daigee Shaw & Yu-Lan Chien & Yih-Ming Lin, 1999. "Alternative approach to combining revealed and stated preference data: evaluating water quality of a river system in Taipei," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 2(2), pages 97-112, June.
    12. Zorzeta Bakaki & Thomas Bernauer, 2017. "Citizens show strong support for climate policy, but are they also willing to pay?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 15-26, November.
    13. Daigee Shaw & Yu-Lan Chien & Yih-Ming Lin, 1999. "Alternative approach to combining revealed and stated preference data: evaluating water quality of a river system in Taipei," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 2(2), pages 97-112, June.
    14. van Doorn, Jenny & Verhoef, Peter C., 2011. "Willingness to pay for organic products: Differences between virtue and vice foods," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 167-180.
    15. Matthew Rousu & Wallace E. Huffman & Jason F. Shogren & Abebayehu Tegene, 2007. "Effects And Value Of Verifiable Information In A Controversial Market: Evidence From Lab Auctions Of Genetically Modified Food," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 45(3), pages 409-432, July.
    16. Chengyan Yue & Ben Campbell & Charles Hall & Bridget Behe & Jennifer Dennis & Hayk Khachatryan, 2016. "Consumer Preference for Sustainable Attributes in Plants: Evidence from Experimental Auctions," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 222-235, April.
    17. Hyunsoo Kim & Chang Won Lee, 2018. "The Effects of Customer Perception and Participation in Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Smartphone Industry Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-19, July.
    18. Fredrik Carlsson & Jorge García & Åsa Löfgren, 2010. "Conformity and the Demand for Environmental Goods," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 47(3), pages 407-421, November.
    19. Whitehead, John C., 2005. "Combining willingness to pay and behavior data with limited information," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 143-155, June.
    20. Asche, Frank & Larsen, Thomas A. & Smith, Martin D. & Sogn-Grundvåg, Geir & Young, James A., 2015. "Pricing of eco-labels with retailer heterogeneity," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 82-93.

    More about this item

    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:spr:climat:v:134:y:2016:i:1:p:87-99. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.