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Moving to Greener Societies: Moral Motivation and Green Behaviour

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Abstract

This paper intends to provide an alternative explanation of why societies behave differently from an environmental point of view. To do so, I use a Kantian moral approach at a microeconomic level. Under this premise, I show that two identical societies (according to income and political system) might follow different paths with respect to their "green" behaviour. Additionally, I identify tipping points that could nudge a society from a polluting behaviour to a green one. I find that environmental perception as well as how governments are elected can be important factors in this shift

Suggested Citation

  • Lorenzo Cerda Planas, 2014. "Moving to Greener Societies: Moral Motivation and Green Behaviour," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 14035, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    • Handle: RePEc:mse:cesdoc:14035
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental motivation; Kantian morale; green behaviour; tipping points;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • C62 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Existence and Stability Conditions of Equilibrium

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