IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/injoed/v109y2024ics0738059324001329.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental education and children’s pro-environmental behavior on plastic waste. Evidence from the green school certification program in Chile

Author

Listed:
  • Salazar, César
  • Jaime, Marcela
  • Leiva, Mauricio
  • González, Nuria

Abstract

Environmental education provides people with the information they need to understand the causes and consequences of environmental issues, helping to promote positive attitudes toward nature. This paper uses a multivalued treatment effects model to evaluate the effects of a green school certification program on children’s pro-environmental behavior in Chile. Pro-environmental behavior is measured by knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to the consumption and disposal of plastics. Results evidence a positive effect of schools’ higher certification level on children’s plastic waste behavior. This effect seems stronger in practices where children have more decision-making power (e.g., packing a lunch box). The observed reverse effect when switching from basic to intermediate level of certification is in line with the potential non-linear effects of environmental education on pro-environmental behavior regarding the consumption and disposal of plastic. To improve the design of the program, it is important to redefine incentives in the certification system to differentiate better the benefits of reaching each level of environmental certification

Suggested Citation

  • Salazar, César & Jaime, Marcela & Leiva, Mauricio & González, Nuria, 2024. "Environmental education and children’s pro-environmental behavior on plastic waste. Evidence from the green school certification program in Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:109:y:2024:i:c:s0738059324001329
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103106
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059324001329
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103106?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Galati, Antonino & Gianguzzi, Giuseppe & Tinervia, Salvatore & Crescimanno, Maria & La Mela Veca, Donato Salvatore, 2017. "Motivations, adoption and impact of voluntary environmental certification in the Italian Forest based industry: The case of the FSC standard," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 169-176.
    2. Hilary Boudet & Nicole M. Ardoin & June Flora & K. Carrie Armel & Manisha Desai & Thomas N. Robinson, 2016. "Effects of a behaviour change intervention for Girl Scouts on child and parent energy-saving behaviours," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(8), pages 1-10, August.
    3. Jaime, Marcela & Salazar, César & Alpizar, Francisco & Carlsson, Fredrik, 2023. "Can school environmental education programs make children and parents more pro-environmental?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Letícia Xander Russo & Joilson Dias, 2016. "The Health Influence On Returns To Education In Brazil: A Nonlinear Approach," Anais do XLII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 42nd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 200, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    5. S. Derya Uysal, 2015. "Doubly Robust Estimation of Causal Effects with Multivalued Treatments: An Application to the Returns to Schooling," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 763-786, August.
    6. Bettinger, Eric & Slonim, Robert, 2006. "Using experimental economics to measure the effects of a natural educational experiment on altruism," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(8-9), pages 1625-1648, September.
    7. Fabian Kosse & Thomas Deckers & Pia Pinger & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Armin Falk, 2020. "The Formation of Prosociality: Causal Evidence on the Role of Social Environment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(2), pages 434-467.
    8. W. Kip Viscusi & Joel Huber & Jason Bell, 2011. "Promoting Recycling: Private Values, Social Norms, and Economic Incentives," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 65-70, May.
    9. Chuanhui Liao & Hui Li, 2019. "Environmental Education, Knowledge, and High School Students’ Intention toward Separation of Solid Waste on Campus," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-15, May.
    10. Letícia Xander Russo & Joilson Dias, 2016. "The health influence on returns to education in Brazil: A nonlinear approach," Economia, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics], vol. 17(2), pages 210-220.
    11. Fehr, Ernst & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Sutter, Matthias, 2013. "The development of egalitarianism, altruism, spite and parochialism in childhood and adolescence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 369-383.
    12. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2007. "Inverse probability weighted estimation for general missing data problems," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 1281-1301, December.
    13. Shimpei Iwasaki, 2022. "Effects of Environmental Education on Young Children’s Water-Saving Behaviors in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, March.
    14. Sutter, Matthias & Zoller, Claudia & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela, 2019. "Economic behavior of children and adolescents – A first survey of experimental economics results," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 98-121.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jaime, Marcela & Salazar, César & Alpizar, Francisco & Carlsson, Fredrik, 2023. "Can school environmental education programs make children and parents more pro-environmental?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    2. Horn, Dániel & Kiss, Hubert János & Lénárd, Tünde, 2022. "Gender differences in preferences of adolescents: Evidence from a large-scale classroom experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 478-522.
    3. Johannes Abeler & Armin Falk & Fabian Kosse, 2021. "Malleability of Preferences for Honesty," CESifo Working Paper Series 9033, CESifo.
    4. Bindra, Parampreet Christopher & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp, 2020. "Discrimination at young age: Experimental evidence from preschool children," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 55-70.
    5. Claes, Ek & Söderberg, Magnus & Kataria, Mitesh, 2024. "Can teaching children about the environment influence household behavior? Experiments in Swedish schools," Working Papers in Economics 848, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics, revised 14 Nov 2024.
    6. Cavatorta, Elisa & Zizzo, Daniel John & Daoud, Yousef, 2023. "Conflict and reciprocity: A study with Palestinian youths," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    7. John A. List & Ragan Petrie & Anya Samek, 2023. "How Experiments with Children Inform Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 504-564, June.
    8. Sutter, Matthias & Zoller, Claudia & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela, 2019. "Economic behavior of children and adolescents – A first survey of experimental economics results," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 98-121.
    9. Grosch, Kerstin & Haeckl, Simone & Rau, Holger & Preuss, Paul, 2023. "A Guide to Conducting School Experiments: Expert Insights and Best Practices for Effective Implementation," UiS Working Papers in Economics and Finance 2023/2, University of Stavanger.
    10. Daniel Schunk & Isabell Zipperle, 2023. "Fairness and inequality acceptance in children and adolescents: A survey on behaviors in economic experiments," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5), pages 1715-1742, December.
    11. Brocas, Isabelle & Carrillo, Juan D., 2021. "Self-serving, altruistic and spiteful lying in the schoolyard," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 159-175.
    12. Fabian Kosse & Thomas Deckers & Pia Pinger & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Armin Falk, 2020. "The Formation of Prosociality: Causal Evidence on the Role of Social Environment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(2), pages 434-467.
    13. Kai Barron & Heike Harmgart & Steffen Huck & Sebastian O. Schneider & Matthias Sutter, 2023. "Discrimination, Narratives, and Family History: An Experiment with Jordanian Host and Syrian Refugee Children," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(4), pages 1008-1016, July.
    14. Zenou, Yves & Boucher, Vincent & Tumen, Semih & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Wahba, Jackline, 2020. "Ethnic Mixing in Early Childhood: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment and a Structural Model," CEPR Discussion Papers 15528, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Kerstin Grosch & Simone Haeckl & Martin G. Kocher, 2022. "Closing the Gender STEM Gap - A Large-Scale Randomized-Controlled Trial in Elementary Schools," CESifo Working Paper Series 9907, CESifo.
    16. Breitkopf, Laura & Chowdhury, Shyamal K. & Priyam, Shambhavi & Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "Do economic preferences of children predict behavior?," DICE Discussion Papers 342, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    17. Armin Falk & Fabian Kosse & Pia Pinger & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Thomas Deckers, 2021. "Socioeconomic Status and Inequalities in Children’s IQ and Economic Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(9), pages 2504-2545.
    18. Grosch, Kerstin & Häckl, Simone & Kocher, Martin G., 2022. "Closing the gender STEM gap," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 329, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    19. Zimmermann, Klaus F. & Chowdhury, Shyamal & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "Economic preferences across generations and family clusters: A large-scale experiment," CEPR Discussion Papers 14998, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Etienne Dagorn & David Masclet & Thierry Penard, 2022. "The Behavioral Determinants of School Achievement: A Lab in the Field Experiment in Middle School," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes & University of Caen) 2022-05, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes, University of Caen and CNRS.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:109:y:2024:i:c:s0738059324001329. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-educational-development .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.