Intergenerational Spillovers of Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors

Shubhro Bhattacharya (), Sara Constantino (), Nirajana Mishra (), Nishith Prakash (), Shwetlena Sabarwal (), Dighbijoy Samaddar () and Raisa Sherif ()
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Shubhro Bhattacharya: University of California San Diego
Sara Constantino: Stanford University
Nirajana Mishra: Northeastern University
Nishith Prakash: Northeastern University
Shwetlena Sabarwal: The World Bank
Dighbijoy Samaddar: Centre for Social and Behavior Change
Raisa Sherif: Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finances

No 18809, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: We study intergenerational spillovers of environmental education using a randomized field experiment with 1,446 child–parent pairs in Patna, India, assigned to child-only, parent-only, joint, or control arms. Treating either children or parents raises the likelihood that the untreated household member chooses a delayed recycled certificate over an immediate standard one by 25 percentage points—spillovers on this incentivized behavior run symmetrically in both directions. Spillovers on beliefs and attitudes are asymmetric, however: children shift parents' views on climate change, but little spillover runs from parents to children on other measures. Joint participation does not outperform targeting children alone once child-to-parent spillovers are accounted for, suggesting that targeting children is a more scalable, cost-effective way to promote sustainable household behavior.

Keywords: environmental education; intra-household spillovers; intergenerational transmission; pro-environmental behavior; climate risk perceptions; factorial randomized design; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D10 I20 O10 Q01 Q53 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-07
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