Generational Solidarity for Global Public Goods

27 Pages Posted: 14 Oct 2022

See all articles by Anna Abatayo

Anna Abatayo

Wageningen University

Lea Svenningsen

University of Copenhagen

Bo Thorsen

University of Copenhagen

Abstract

Policies, such as those on biodiversity and on climate change, promise to create public goods that transcend national borders and generations. Can such policies command popular support across borders? We conduct an economics laboratory experiment run simultaneously and interactively among individuals in Denmark, Spain, and Ghana. The experiment compares private contributions toward a public good that transcends national borders and generations with contributions to a baseline public good that only does one, the other, or neither. Our results show that, in general, when future generations are unaffected by current public good provisions, contributions toward transnational public goods are lower compared to contributions toward national public goods. The effect switches, however, when future generations are affected, suggesting that a focus on future generation impacts may enhance support for transnational public goods.

Keywords: public goods, Intercounty, Economic Experiment

Suggested Citation

Abatayo, Anna and Svenningsen, Lea and Thorsen, Bo, Generational Solidarity for Global Public Goods. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4247437 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4247437

Anna Abatayo (Contact Author)

Wageningen University ( email )

P.O. Box 47
6700 AA
Netherlands

Lea Svenningsen

University of Copenhagen ( email )

Nørregade 10
Copenhagen, DK-1165
Denmark

Bo Thorsen

University of Copenhagen ( email )

Nørregade 10
Copenhagen, DK-1165
Denmark

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