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How Green are Economists?

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  • Carattini, Stefano
  • Tavoni, Alessandro

Abstract

The market for voluntary carbon offsets has grown steadily in the last decade, yet it remains a very small niche. Most emissions from business travel are still not offset. This paper exploits a unique dataset examining the decision to purchase carbon offsets at two academic conferences in environmental and ecological economics. We find that having the conference expenses covered by one's institution increases the likelihood of offsetting, but practical and ethical reservations as well as personal characteristics and preferences also play an important role. We draw lessons from the effect of objections on the use of offsets and discuss the implications for practitioners and policy-makers. Based on our findings, we conclude that ecological and environmental economists should be more involved in the design and use of carbon offsets.

Suggested Citation

  • Carattini, Stefano & Tavoni, Alessandro, 2016. "How Green are Economists?," MITP: Mitigation, Innovation and Transformation Pathways 240749, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:feemmi:240749
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.240749
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    Cited by:

    1. Stefano Carattini & Andrea Baranzini & Philippe Thalmann & Frédéric Varone & Frank Vöhringer, 2017. "Green Taxes in a Post-Paris World: Are Millions of Nays Inevitable?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 68(1), pages 97-128, September.
    2. Andrea Baranzini & Nicolas Borzykowski & Stefano Carattini, 2016. "Carbon offsets out of the woods? The acceptability of domestic vs. international reforestation programmes," GRI Working Papers 257, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    3. Stefano Carattini & Julia Blasch, 2020. "Nudging When the Descriptive Norm Is Low: Evidence from a Carbon Offsetting Field Experiment," CESifo Working Paper Series 8542, CESifo.
    4. Baranzini, Andrea & Borzykowski, Nicolas & Carattini, Stefano, 2018. "Carbon offsets out of the woods? Acceptability of domestic vs. international reforestation programmes in the lab," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 1-12.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental Economics and Policy;

    JEL classification:

    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • H8 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues
    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy

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