Gender and Environmental Behavior: Evidence from a Digital Green Initiative *

Abstract

Using a representative sample of 200 thousand individual users on a leading BigTech platform, we document a significant role that digital technology plays in facilitating and incentivizing individuals’ green behaviors and highlight a gender difference in environmentalism. Specifically, over 82% of the sampled individuals participate in a digital initiative that incentivizes individuals’ green behaviors in lifestyles. We find a more active participation in pro-environmental activities through the initiative by females. Moreover, consistent with their non-pecuniary preference in these activities, female participants exhibit a greater tendency to invest in green funds than their male counterparts. However, such investments do not yield higher financial returns. Overall, our study supports the idea of utilizing digital technologies to combat climate change and highlights the importance of promoting gender diversity in environmental governance.

Keywords: JEL classification: G23, G41, Q50 Digital technology, Climate change, Environmental behavior, Gender diversity, Environmental governance, Green investment