Abstract: Climate change is a worldwide threat, importantly this means it threatens both the individual and humanity more broadly. According to the most recent IPCC report, we have to immediately and rapidly reach net zero carbon emissions to avoid many of the worst effects. Determining how to motivate the public to pursue carbon mitigation will therefore be essential for policy makers. This project studies the value, known as willingness to pay (WTP), placed on climate change mitigation in an experimental setting. In particular this project is interested if the way information about climate change is presented to people (framing), and people’s preferences on the distribution of income (social preferences), impact their WTP. Further, this project also studies if an individual’s social preferences changes the impact of framing.
The framing used in this experiment mirrors one of the real world characteristics of climate change. Developed nations pollute the most per capita, but developing nations are the most exposed to climate change. Thus, some participants will receive framing emphasizing the risks from climate change to themselves directly, whereas others will receive language emphasizing the risk to those in developing nations. It is hypothesized that the former framing may be more motivating to self-regarding individuals, whereas individuals who are more strongly concerned with other’s welfare will be more motivated by the latter framing. Results from this experiment will become part of the literature seeking to inform active and ongoing policy discussions. For example, this project’s findings are be of use to policy makers trying to word a referendum. Environmental activists engaged in outreach such as deep conversation may also find the results helpful in tailoring their messages.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2215652&HistoricalAwards=false
This paper examines how the Little Ice Age impacted fuel prices in Early Modern Europe. I use a panel of historical price data from 14 European cities covering 1500-1830. I combine this with reconstructed temperature and precipitation data for the same period. I find that persistent cooling resulted in an increase in both hardwood and charcoal prices. For half a degree decrease in average temperature, prices increased by 3.2% for charcoal and 4.3% for hardwood, though the former was not statistically significant. I test for the role of repeated exposure to cold weather and find that it resulted in an intensification of price increases. In addition I find that access to coal mitigated some but not all of these intensification effects. Finally the use of real vs nominal prices do not impact my results
This paper looks at the correlation between diversity and inequality aversion in the United States at the state level. In general I find that more diverse states are less adverse to inequality. This negative correlation holds over a verity of control variables and alternative specifications. It is also the only variable to remain significant in the face of fixed effects. Further, I document that the negative correlation between inequality aversion and diversity is mitigated as the non-white share of income increases. Finally, the data show that that increased college education is associated with decreased preferences for redistribution.