Spillover effect of congestion charging on pro-environmental behavior

Naoko Kaida () and Kosuke Kaida ()

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2015, vol. 17, issue 3, 409-421

Abstract: This paper reports an examination of a spillover effect from a real-world intervention policy of traffic congestion charging that impacted various pro-environmental behaviors. A mailed questionnaire surveyed randomly sampled car owners living in Stockholm County (Sweden) to gather data on travel modes and pro-environmental behavior before and after the introduction of a trial congestion charging policy in Stockholm. Results of paired t test on 291 valid samples revealed that this policy not only directly mitigates traffic congestion (i.e., a direct effect of the policy intervention), but it also indirectly ‘spills over’ to affect pro-environmental behaviors in nontransportation situations (resource and energy use). A spillover to pro-environmental behavior was confirmed by respondents who shifted their travel mode from car to pro-environmental travel mode. Interestingly, the spillover was also confirmed in a group of respondents who remained in the pro-environmental travel mode and others who adversely shifted away from a pro-environmental travel mode to cars. Results suggest that the spillover effect from an environmental policy intervention can have considerable impact on facilitating pro-environmental behaviors and surrounding issues in more general contexts, thus warranting careful evaluation with a wider perspective. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Keywords: Policy intervention; Pro-environmental behavior; Behavioral change; Spillover; Energy use; Sustainable consumption; Travel mode; Congestion charge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-014-9550-9

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