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Punishment to promote prosocial behavior: a field experiment

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  • Vollaard, Ben
  • van Soest, Daan

Abstract

Prosocial behavior is typically promoted through behavioral interventions or modest rewards. We provide field evidence for the effectiveness of a less commonly used way to achieve the same goal: making it illegal not to engage in the desired behavior and then enforcing that rule. We partnered with a city to conduct a natural field experiment aimed at increasing the rate at which 70,000 households separate their waste. Households were informed that it was illegal not to separate their waste and that they could be fined. The announcement was followed by a month of intensive and highly conspicuous inspections of the contents of garbage containers set out for emptying. The treatment had a large and immediate positive effect on waste separation. Unlike the effects of crackdowns in typical applications such as traffic enforcement, the behavioral effect persisted at a stable rate for many months. This divergent result is consistent with a change in habits, a previously unexplored way in which law enforcement crackdowns can have a lasting effect. If habits sustain the new behavior, then this also alleviates concerns about loss of intrinsic motivation.

Suggested Citation

  • Vollaard, Ben & van Soest, Daan, 2024. "Punishment to promote prosocial behavior: a field experiment," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:124:y:2024:i:c:s0095069623001171
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2023.102899
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    Cited by:

    1. Wadehra, Shivani & Nie, Zihan & Alpizar, Francisco, 2024. "Disentangling the chicken or egg causality dilemma of household waste sorting and segregated waste collection: A randomized controlled trial in India," EfD Discussion Paper 24-8, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    2. Ek, Claes & Söderberg, Magnus, 2024. "Norm-based feedback on household waste: Large-scale field experiments in two Swedish municipalities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    3. Lihini Silva & Rebecca L. C. Taylor, 2024. "If You Build It, Will They Compost? The Effects of Municipal Composting Services on Household Waste Disposal and Landfill Emissions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 87(3), pages 761-789, March.
    4. Christian A. Vossler & Timothy N. Cason & James J. Murphy & Paul J. Ferraro & Todd L. Cherry & George Loewenstein & Peter Martinsson & Jason F. Shogren & Leaf van Boven & Daan van Soest, 2024. "The impact of experiments on environmental policy and natural resource management," Working Papers 2024-05, University of Tennessee, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    deterrence; crackdown; habit formation; social norm; field experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

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