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The Opportunity Cost of Pro-Environmental Activities: Spending Time to Promote the Environment

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  • Shigeru Matsumoto

Abstract

This study examines how working hours and the opportunity cost of time affect an individual’s decision to participate in a time-consuming pro-environmental activity—namely, the purchase of refillable products—while using data from the Japanese General Social Survey 2002 . By purchasing refillable products, an individual can reduce the amount of waste that needs to be disposed; however, she or he must spend time refilling bottles (i.e., a pro-environmental activity). Our empirical results demonstrate that individuals who work long hours and those with high wage rates tend to purchase nonrefillable products. Therefore, both time constraints and the opportunity cost of time are important factors in the decision to undertake pro-environmental activities. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

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  • Shigeru Matsumoto, 2014. "The Opportunity Cost of Pro-Environmental Activities: Spending Time to Promote the Environment," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 119-130, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:35:y:2014:i:1:p:119-130
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-013-9354-3
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    3. Artjoms Ivlevs, 2019. "Adverse Welfare Shocks and Pro‐Environmental Behavior: Evidence from the Global Economic Crisis," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(2), pages 293-311, June.
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    6. Mergenthaler, Marcus & Schröter, Iris, 2020. "Market and Institutional Limits in Supplying Animal Welfare: some Conceptual Thoughts for Future Agricultural Economic Research," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 11(02), April.
    7. Towhid Babazadeh & Haidar Nadrian & Mohammad Mosaferi & Hamid Allahverdipour, 2018. "Identifying Challenges and Barriers to Participating in the Source Separation of Waste Program in Tabriz, Northwest of Iran: A Qualitative Study from the Citizens’ Perspective," Resources, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-14, August.
    8. Martha A. Starr, 2015. "The Economics of Ethical Consumption," Working Papers 2015-01, American University, Department of Economics.
    9. Zhou, Jiehong & Liu, Qing & Mao, Rui & Yu, Xiaohua, 2017. "Habit spillovers or induced awareness: Willingness to pay for eco-labels of rice in China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 62-73.
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