Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Feldhaus, Christoph
Author-Name: Gleue, Marvin
Author-Name: Löschel, Andreas
Author-Name: Werner, Peter
Author-workplace-name: RS: GSBE Theme Human Decisions and Policy Design, Microeconomics & Public Economics
Title: Co-benefits motivate individual donations to mitigate climate change
Abstract: We study the role of co-benefits – positive effects of climate protection projects in addition to CO2 reduction – for the motivation to contribute to climate change mitigation. In two artefactual field experiments conducted with large population samples from Germany (n = 2,400 in total), we test if and how the existence and specific nature of co-benefits affect donations. In both experiments, we find that co-benefits have a positive impact on contributions to climate protection. Our second experiment shows that contributions also respond to the nature of co-benefits, and these responses seem to be driven by individual donor preferences for the respective type of co-benefit. Moreover, we observe that making carbon footprints and thus individual responsibility for environmental externalities more salient increases donations irrespective of the existence and nature of co-benefits. Finally, when uncertainty about co-benefits is introduced, the majority of potential donors requests information in both experiments, and those who choose to be informed about co-benefits provide higher donations relative to subjects who choose not to be informed.
Classification-JEL: d64,h41,l31,q51
Series: GSBE Research Memoranda
Creation-Date: 20220405
Number: 004
File-URL: https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/ws/files/90136289/RM22004.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 982520
Handle: Repec:unm:umagsb:2022004
DOI: 10.26481/umagsb.2022004