Does education increase pro-environmental behavior? Evidence from Europe

Andrew Meyer

Ecological Economics, 2015, vol. 116, issue C, 108-121

Abstract: It is often observed that individuals with higher education levels tend to be more environmentally friendly. Yet, the causal evidence is lacking because there may well be omitted variables that cause individuals to attain more education and also cause individuals to be environmentally conscious. We implement a regression discontinuity design to estimate the increase in educational attainment due to changes in compulsory education laws in 20th century Europe. This allows us to overcome the identification problem of endogenous educational attainment. Using two waves of Eurobarometer surveys, we find a positive local average treatment effect for 7 of the 8 pro-environmental behaviors. An analysis of related questions on the survey supports the notion that education causes individuals to be more concerned with social welfare and to accordingly behave in a more environmentally friendly manner.

Keywords: Instrumental variables; Pro-environmental behavior; Education; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H23 H4 I2 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (106)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:116:y:2015:i:c:p:108-121

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.04.018

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