Environmental and Pro-Social Norms: Evidence from 30 Countries
Date
01.01.2007
01.01.2007
Authors
Benno Torgler, Bruno S. Frey, Clevo Wilson
JEL Code
H260,H730,D640
H260,H730,D640
Keywords:
Environmental Preferences,Environmental Morale,Conditional Cooperation,Pro-Social Behavior
Environmental Preferences,Environmental Morale,Conditional Cooperation,Pro-Social Behavior
Publisher
Climate Change and Sustainable Development
Climate Change and Sustainable Development
Editor
Carlo Carraro
Carlo Carraro
The paper investigates the relationship between pro-social norms and its implications for improved environmental outcomes, an area which has been neglected in the environmental economics literature. We provide empirical evidence, demonstrating a strong link between perceived environmental cooperation (reduced public littering) and increased voluntary environmental morale, using European Values Survey (EVS) data for 30 Western and Eastern European countries. The robust results suggest that environmental morale and perceived environmental cooperation, as well as identifying the factors that strengthen these relationships, potentially bring about better environmental outcomes.