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Household behaviour crowds out support for climate change policy when sufficient progress is perceived

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  • Seth H. Werfel

    (Stanford University)

Abstract

Household actions and government policies are both necessary to mitigate the effects of climate change. However, household behaviour may crowd out public support for government action by creating the perception of sufficient progress. Here we demonstrate this crowding-out effect in public opinion using survey experiments with more than 14,000 participants in Japan. Subjects who were randomly assigned to report their energy-saving actions following the shutdown of the Fukushima power plant were less likely to support a tax increase on carbon emissions. Treatment effects were larger for subjects who had completed more actions. Further evidence suggests that the crowding-out effect may have been driven by an increase in the perceived importance of individual actions relative to government regulation and a decrease in the perceived issue importance of energy and environmental sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Seth H. Werfel, 2017. "Household behaviour crowds out support for climate change policy when sufficient progress is perceived," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 7(7), pages 512-515, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:7:y:2017:i:7:d:10.1038_nclimate3316
    DOI: 10.1038/nclimate3316
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    Cited by:

    1. Lea Marie Heidbreder & Josephine Tröger & Manfred Schmitt, 2023. "Exploring the psychological antecedents of private and public sphere behaviours to reduce household plastic consumption," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 3405-3428, April.
    2. Werfel, Seth H., 2018. "Does charitable giving crowd out support for government spending?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 83-86.
    3. Kristian S. Nielsen & Kimberly A. Nicholas & Felix Creutzig & Thomas Dietz & Paul C. Stern, 2021. "The role of high-socioeconomic-status people in locking in or rapidly reducing energy-driven greenhouse gas emissions," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(11), pages 1011-1016, November.
    4. Barkemeyer, Ralf & Young, C. William & Chintakayala, Phani Kumar & Owen, Anne, 2023. "Eco-labels, conspicuous conservation and moral licensing: An indirect behavioural rebound effect," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    5. Phu Nguyen-Van & Anne Stenger & Tuyen Tiet, 2021. "Social incentive factors in interventions promoting sustainable behaviors: A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-27, December.
    6. Graham Beattie & Yi Han & Andrea La Nauze, 2019. "Conservation Spillovers: The Effect of Rooftop Solar on Climate Change Beliefs," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(3), pages 1425-1451, November.
    7. Gitanshu Choudhary & Varun Dutt, 2024. "Analyzing single-action bias in dynamic climate change environments: insights from feedback and probability," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Ryan Gunderson & Claiton Fyock, 2022. "Are fossil fuel CEOs responsible for climate change? Social structure and criminal law approaches to climate litigation," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 12(2), pages 378-385, June.
    9. Gintare Stankuniene & Dalia Streimikiene & Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos, 2020. "Systematic Literature Review on Behavioral Barriers of Climate Change Mitigation in Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Knook, Jorie & Dorner, Zack & Stahlmann-Brown, Philip, 2022. "Priming for individual energy efficiency action crowds out support for national climate change policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    11. Brianne Eby & Amanda R. Carrico & Heather Barnes Truelove, 2019. "The influence of environmental identity labeling on the uptake of pro-environmental behaviors," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 155(4), pages 563-580, August.
    12. Ravi Dutta‐Powell & Joshua J. Rhee & Saul Wodak, 2024. "Two interventions for mitigating the harms of greenwashing on consumer perceptions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 882-903, February.
    13. Luca Congiu & Ivan Moscati, 2022. "A review of nudges: Definitions, justifications, effectiveness," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 188-213, February.

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