Using Information to Improve Global Cooperation: A Climate Change Experiment

Abstract

We run an experiment in five countries with 7,132 respondents to study how information about the behaviour of others affects contributions to climate change mitigation. Acting on behalf of their own countries, respondents receive information about the average contribution of four other countries, their individual contributions and endowments, and the identities of these countries. We identify a followthe-majority effect (respondents increase their contributions as the average contribution of others increases), a dispersion effect (respondents decrease their contributions as the standard deviation of the distribution of others’ contributions increases), and a follow-the-leader effect (respondents increase their contributions when they observe the identity of the lead contributor). Our results indicate that the interaction between information and other-regarding preferences might be a relevant tool to improve global cooperation.

Keywords: Climate change mitigation, Multicountry study, cooperation, International Negotiations