The Influence of Collective Action on the Demand for Voluntary Climate Change Mitigation in Hypothetical and Real Situations

40 Pages Posted: 7 Aug 2015

See all articles by Bodo Sturm

Bodo Sturm

Leipzig University of Applied Sciences - HTWK Leipzig

Reinhard Uehleke

Leipzig University of Applied Sciences - HTWK Leipzig

Date Written: July 2015

Abstract

In this experiment, we investigate determinants of the individual demand for voluntary climate change mitigation. Subjects decide between a cash prize and an allowance from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme for one ton of CO2 that will be deleted afterwards. We vary the incentives of the decision situation in which we distinguish between real monetary incentives and a hypothetical decision situation with and without a cheap talk script. Furthermore, decisions were implemented either as purely individual or as a collective action using majority voting. We observe a significant hypothetical bias in the demand for voluntary climate change mitigation. In case of the individual decision situation this bias is caused solely by subjects with low income. Collective decision making affects demand positively in the hypothetical decision situation only.

Keywords: demand for voluntary climate change mitigation, public goods, collective action, hypothetical bias

JEL Classification: Q51, Q54, C93

Suggested Citation

Sturm, Bodo and Uehleke, Reinhard, The Influence of Collective Action on the Demand for Voluntary Climate Change Mitigation in Hypothetical and Real Situations (July 2015). ZEW - Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper No. 15-045, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2640262 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2640262

Bodo Sturm (Contact Author)

Leipzig University of Applied Sciences - HTWK Leipzig ( email )

Leipzig
Germany

Reinhard Uehleke

Leipzig University of Applied Sciences - HTWK Leipzig ( email )

Leipzig
Germany

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
49
Abstract Views
504
PlumX Metrics