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Does waste management policy crowd out social and moral motives for recycling?

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  • Ferrara, Ida
  • Missios, Paul

Abstract

Social and moral motivations can influence households’ decisions regarding pro-environmental behavior, such as recycling. In a theoretical framework that allows for these motivations, we analyze how policies such as unit pricing and mandatory recycling affect whether and, in the presence of heterogeneous households, the extent to which a society recycles. We show that unit pricing enhances the effect of intrinsic motivation while mandatory recycling can erode it (depending on the marginal utility of self-image and the recycling cost-to-benefit ratio). We empirically investigate the relationship between policy and intrinsic motivation, using different cutoffs for recyclers and non-recyclers, and find support for our theoretical predictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferrara, Ida & Missios, Paul, 2024. "Does waste management policy crowd out social and moral motives for recycling?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:112:y:2024:i:c:s2214804324000715
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2024.102233
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unit pricing; Mandatory recycling; Recycling subsidy; Social motivation; Moral motivation; Crowding in; Crowding out;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • 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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