More information isn’t always better: the case of voluntary provision of environmental quality

Ann Owen, Julio Videras and Stephen Wu

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper adds to the literature on the voluntary provision of public goods by showing that the warm glow that individuals gain depends on the perceived relative effectiveness of contributions. We use a new survey on pro-environment behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge and find that individuals act in accordance with their beliefs, regardless of whether or not these beliefs are accurate, and engage more frequently in activities that have a higher perceived impact on environmental quality. We find that low provision of the public good is greater among people who believe they cannot do much for the environment and do not consider themselves environmentalists.

Keywords: warm glow; environmental quality; public goods contributions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H41 Q50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-env and nep-pbe
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/11588/1/MPRA_paper_11588.pdf original version (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: MORE INFORMATION IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER: THE CASE OF VOLUNTARY PROVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:11588

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