A l i c e P i z z o
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Copenhagen Business School.
PhD in Economics at University of Copenhagen
MSc in Environmental and Natural Resources Economics at University of Copenhagen
BSc in Economics and Management at University of Padova & Sorbonne University
I am a micro-economist working at the intersection of behavioral and environmental economics. My academic interests and research outputs relate to individual decision making and consumer economics in the context of climate change, environmental and natural resource economics, environmental public policy, health economics. My research is driven by quantitative and applied econometric methods, and is mostly based on primary data collected from field, online and lab experiments.
My teaching portfolio includes statistics (undergraduate level), behavioral economics (graduate level), behavioral & experimental economics (graduate level), applied quantitative methods (doctorate level).
My research agenda seeks to address critical social and political issues (i.e. the climate, environmental, inequality, and health crises) by applying a microeconomic approach that leverages behavioural economics and experimental and applied econometric methods to better understand economic decision-making and to evaluate regulatory instruments aimed at overcoming market imperfections and addressing externalities.
As part of the BeaCon project, I am currently leading multiple experimental interventions focused on sustainable consumption. These interventions encompass both online and field experiments, allowing for a comprehensive exploration of behavioral interventions in relation to more traditional price policies: a large-scale field experiment on sustainable food consumption; a field experiment on food waste at a local restaurant facility; a machine-learning-assisted systematic literature meta-analysis; a large-scale, online random controlled trial aiming to uncover the behavioural mechanisms behind a salient carbon tax.
In my previous research, I have focused on various aspects of consumer behavior. Specifically, I have conducted a controlled field experiment related to information provision and its impact on consumer behavior in the areas of food consumption, environmental awareness, and anthropogenic carbon footprint. Additionally, I have led a study examining the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer behavior, specifically in relation to tobacco consumption. This study utilized a natural experiment design to understand the changes in behavior brought about by the pandemic. Furthermore, I have explored the dynamics of collaborations, attention, and decision-making strategies within the context of an eye-tracking laboratory. Overall, my research portfolio includes experiments conducted in controlled field settings, natural experiment designs, as well as laboratory experiments focused on understanding consumer behavior.
Carbon Taxes Crowd-out Climate Concern: Experimental Evidence from Sustainable Consumer Choices.
- with Christina Gravert, Jan M. Bauer, and Lucia Reisch
Published Papers and Under Review
Do people respond to the climate impact of their behavior? The effect of carbon footprint information on grocery purchases. - with Toke Fosgård and Sally Sadoff
Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics (2024)
Sustained Decline in Cigarette Smoking During COVID-19 - with Toke Fosgård and Sally Sadoff
Nature Communications Medicine (2022)
Information acquisition and cognitive processes during strategic decision-making: combining a policy-capturing study with eye-tracking data. - with Beverly Tyler, Toke Fosgaard, Karin Beukel
PLOS ONE (2022)
What shapes sustainable food choices? A field experiment on the impact of a behaviorally informed intervention and a price variation on sustainable food choices. - with Jan M. Bauer and Lucia Reisch
Under review at Journal of Environmental Economics and Management - pre-print available
Demand-side interventions for sustainable food systems: A metaanalysis of food-policy interventions targeting food consumption and waste behaviours. – with Paul Lohmann, Jan M. Bauer, Lucia Reisch
R&R at Nature Food - pre-print available
Food waste awareness and portion size guidance to reduce individual food waste: a field experiment in a restaurant setting - with Manuel Suter, Jan M. Bauer, and Lucia Reisch
R&R at Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics - pre-print available
Ongoing project
C-OPEN CLIMATE CENTER. An ambitious large-scale, long-term collaboration between CBS, ITU and Copenhagen Municipality, approved and endorsed by CBS presidency, currently at funding application stage.
Food Purchases & the Climate. An upcoming, big-data study on supermarket consumers in collaboration with the University of Oxford. Funding secured.
The Rich & the Climate. An ongoing online experiment on excessive tax and high-income consumers within CBS Sustainability Center. Funding secured (Carlsberg Foundation).
Exogenous Shocks & Consumption. A secondary-data research on economic shocks and consumption in collaboration with Bologna Uni. Funding secured.
Carbon vs. Health Framing. An economic analysis and behavioral evaluation of a new product market introduction and share through experimental investigation of consumers decision-making in collaboration with the Danish Technical University as part of the Mycoflavor project. Funding secured (Agrifoodture Innovation Fund).
Unpublished papers
Making Public Policy with Private Politics. A theoretical model on activists’ possible regulatory role when public regulation fails. – with Julien Daubanes
Projects & Fundings
Funding: NOVO NORDISK grant #NNF21SA0069203
A multi-research project on the application of behavioral economics to explore and test behavioural changes towards sustainable individual consumption.
MYCOFLAVOUR – funded by AgriFoodTure
The food industry's transition to circularity and plant-based alternatives is crucial due to animal product-related emissions contributing to 20% of greenhouse gases. A market strategy for product introduction and upscaling is also outlined for brewer's spent grain (BSG) derivatives applied as plant-based fat will further improve sensory qualities, creating meat- like gastronomical alternatives.
ØTTO MONSTEDS – travel grant funded by Øtto Monsteds Foundation
Funding: NOVO NORDISK grant #21630
A field experiment on information provision and consumer behavior in the framework of individual habits with an impact on climate change (food consumption and carbon footprint).
Funding: NOVO NORDISK grant #21630
A controlled experiment with academic and industry researchers on the mechanisms of cross-sectoral collaborations and an eye-tracking lab set-up to investigate the decision-making criteria.