Behavioural Economics and the Environment : A Research Companion

Humans have long neglected to fully consider the impact of their behaviour on the environment. From excessive consumption of fossil fuels and natural resources to pollution, waste disposal, and, in more recent years, climate change, most people and institutions lack a clear understanding of the environmental consequences of their actions. The new field of behavioural environmental economics seeks to address this by applying the framework of behavioural economics to environmental issues, thereby rationalizing unexplained puzzles and providing a more realistic account of individual behaviour.

This book provides a complete and rigorous overview of environmental topics that may be addressed and, in many instances, better understood by integrating a behavioural approach. This volume features state-of-the-art research on this topic by influential scholars in behavioural and environmental economics, focussing on the effects of psychological, social and cognitive factors on the decision-making process. It presents research performed using different methods and data collection mechanisms (e.g. laboratory experiments, field experiments, natural experiments, online surveys) on a variety of environmental topics (e.g. sustainability, natural resources).

This book is a comprehensive and innovative tool for researchers and students interested in the behavioural economics of the environment and in the design of policy interventions aimed at reducing the human impact on the environment.

Alessandro Bucciol is Professor of Econometrics at the University of Verona, Italy. His fields of research are household finance, behavioural economics, economic policy analysis and, in general, applied micro-econometrics. Among other topics, his research focusses on unethical behaviour, policy evaluation and pro-environmental decisions.

Alessandro Tavoni is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Bologna, Italy. His research spans several topics in environmental economics, primarily related to overcoming behavioural and political economy barriers to cooperation in the (climate) commons. This is tackled through a combination of game theory models, surveys, laboratory and field experiments in an effort to shed light on potential solutions to environmental dilemmas.

Marcella Veronesi is Professor of Applied Economics at the Technical University of Denmark and Associate Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Verona, Italy. Her fields of research are applied micro-economics, environmental economics, and behavioural economics. Her research focusses on topics related to the economics of health and the environment, climate change adaptation and education, renewable energy technology adoption, food security in developing countries and the non-market valuation of public goods.