Green behavioral (in)consistencies: are pro-environmental behaviors in different domains substitutes or complements?
Open Access
- 20 June 2019
- journal article
- Published by LLC CPC Business Perspectives in Environmental Economics
- Vol. 10 (1), 23-47
- https://doi.org/10.21511/ee.10(1).2019.03
Abstract
Households’ consumption patterns and behaviors have profound influence on natural resources and environmental quality. This paper explores whether environmental behaviors and willingness to pay (WTP) in the household domains transport, energy consumption and water consumption are substitutes or complements. Using a cross-country data set from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Survey on Environmental Attitudes and Behavior from 2008, a random-effects (ordered) probit model is used to answer this question for the following countries: Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, Italy, and South Korea. It is found that in most countries, actual environmental behaviors are substitutes, while WTP for environmental public goods in different domains is mostly complementary. Grounding in these results, policies aiming to encourage overall environmentally friendly lifestyles should therefore be all-encompassing of several public domains, instead of individual ones, to avoid the risk of negative spillovers.Keywords
This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit:
- A shared sense of responsibility: Money versus effort contributions in the voluntary provision of public goodsJournal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2017
- Like ripples on a pond: Behavioral spillovers and their implications for research and policyJournal of Economic Psychology, 2015
- Greening Household Behaviour and EnergyOECD Environment Working Papers, 2014
- Smug Alert! Exploring self-licensing behavior in a cheating gameEconomics Letters, 2014
- Behavioral Environmental Economics: Promises and ChallengesEnvironmental and Resource Economics, 2014
- What are Households Willing to Pay for Better Tap Water Quality? A Cross-Country Valuation StudySSRN Electronic Journal, 2014
- Tapping into Consumers' Perceptions of Drinking Water Quality in Canada: Capturing Customer Demand to Assist in Better Management of Water ResourcesCanadian Water Resources Journal / Revue canadienne des ressources hydriques, 2005
- Green and GreenbackRationality and Society, 2003
- Substitution Effects in CVM ValuesAmerican Journal of Agricultural Economics, 1994
- Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow GivingThe Economic Journal, 1990