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Pro-environmental interventions and behavioral spillovers: Evidence from organic waste sorting in Sweden

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  • Alacevich, Caterina
  • Bonev, Petyo
  • Söderberg, Magnus

Abstract

This paper evaluates the spillover effect of a pro-environmental policy that introduced organicwaste sorting bins on a non-targeted behavior: total household waste. Using an administrativedataset on household waste from Sweden, we find large reductions in waste due to (i) information about the benefits of organic waste recycling and (ii) the provision of organicwaste bins. Our empirical strategy utilises spatial random variation in the administrative implementation of the reform. Our findings are compatible with attention spillovers in a framework with limited attention.

Suggested Citation

  • Alacevich, Caterina & Bonev, Petyo & Söderberg, Magnus, 2020. "Pro-environmental interventions and behavioral spillovers: Evidence from organic waste sorting in Sweden," Economics Working Paper Series 2006, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:usg:econwp:2020:06
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    Cited by:

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    2. Picard, Julien & Banerjee, Sanchayan, 2023. "Behavioural spillovers unpacked: estimating the side effects of social norm nudges," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120566, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Bonev, Petyo & Soederberg, Magnus & Unternährer, Maria, 2022. "An empirical evaluation of the effect of working from home on waste behaviors," Economics Working Paper Series 2210, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    4. Banerjee, Sanchayan & Galizzi, Matteo M. & John, Peter & Mourato, Susana, 2022. "What works best in promoting climate citizenship? A randomised, systematic evaluation of nudge, think, boost and nudge+," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115032, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Bonev, Petyo & Gorkun-Voevoda, Liudmila & Knaus, Michael, 2022. "The effect of environmental policies on environmental behaviors and intrinsic motivation: evidence from the European Union," Economics Working Paper Series 2207, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science, revised Sep 2022.
    6. Gramsch, Benjamin & Guevara, C. Angelo & Munizaga, Marcela & Schwartz, Daniel & Tirachini, Alejandro, 2022. "The effect of dynamic lockdowns on public transport demand in times of COVID-19: Evidence from smartcard data," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 136-150.
    7. Bonev, Petyo, 2023. "Behavioral Spillovers," Economics Working Paper Series 2303, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    8. De Silva, Lihini & Taylor, Rebecca, 2021. "If you build it, they will compost: The effects of municipal composting services on household waste generation," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313874, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Behavioral spillovers; environmental policy; limited attention; household waste; staggered difference-in-difference;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

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