Pub Date : 2025-11-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103262
Xinming Du , Yu Qin , Yu Xie
This paper examines the impacts of national policies on local policy formulation by studying the interplay between a top-down environmental regulation and the local Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies. We compiled a database of prefecture-level FDI policies in China spanning four decades and leveraged the Two Control Zones (TCZ) policy that designated some prefectures for pollution abatement. A difference-in-differences analysis shows that the TCZ designated cities formulated more friendly FDI policies after the TCZ policy. Mechanism analyses suggest that local governments loosen FDI regulations to offset economic costs of environmental regulation and attain political promotion.
{"title":"Green regulation, trade friendliness, and local policy adaptation","authors":"Xinming Du , Yu Qin , Yu Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103262","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103262","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the impacts of national policies on local policy formulation by studying the interplay between a top-down environmental regulation and the local Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies. We compiled a database of prefecture-level FDI policies in China spanning four decades and leveraged the Two Control Zones (TCZ) policy that designated some prefectures for pollution abatement. A difference-in-differences analysis shows that the TCZ designated cities formulated more friendly FDI policies after the TCZ policy. Mechanism analyses suggest that local governments loosen FDI regulations to offset economic costs of environmental regulation and attain political promotion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"135 ","pages":"Article 103262"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145577244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103261
Panbing Wan , Lin Chen , ZhongXiang Zhang
This paper examines how central supervision influences border pollution, using China's National Specially Monitored Firms (NSMF) program as a quasi-experiment. We show that the program significantly reduces SO2 emission intensity among polluting firms near provincial borders relative to those farther away. The effect is concentrated in firms located downwind of urban areas. The mechanism operates through strengthened local enforcement, as the NSMF program compels stricter monitoring of border-proximate firms. In response, these firms adopt greater end-of-pipe abatement measures to comply with heightened regulatory pressure.
{"title":"Does central supervision mitigate border pollution? Evidence from the national specially monitored firms program in China","authors":"Panbing Wan , Lin Chen , ZhongXiang Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103261","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103261","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines how central supervision influences border pollution, using China's National Specially Monitored Firms (NSMF) program as a quasi-experiment. We show that the program significantly reduces SO<sub>2</sub> emission intensity among polluting firms near provincial borders relative to those farther away. The effect is concentrated in firms located downwind of urban areas. The mechanism operates through strengthened local enforcement, as the NSMF program compels stricter monitoring of border-proximate firms. In response, these firms adopt greater end-of-pipe abatement measures to comply with heightened regulatory pressure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 103261"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145616614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103258
Célia Escribe , Philippe Quirion
Energy efficiency and decarbonized energy sources are central to climate change mitigation, but additional strategies may be needed to meet ambitious targets. Sufficiency, which involves reducing consumption and shifting to less environmentally impactful lifestyles, is increasingly considered a potential lever for decarbonization. However, its broader economic implications remain underexplored. This paper develops a static macroeconomic model with a detailed microeconomic production framework to analyze these implications. We derive comparative statics to unravel three primary propagation channels for consumption changes: direct demand effects, price effects, and substitution effects, based on the production network structure and elasticities of substitution. Using multi-regional input–output data, we assess the impacts of two sufficiency-driven consumption changes: adopting a vegetarian diet and reducing energy use. Our findings reveal significant rebound effects, up to 38 % for domestic emissions and 60 % for global emissions (accounting for carbon leakage), compared to estimates excluding behavioral aspects. Rebound effects from sufficiency strategies are smaller than those from energy efficiency improvements.
{"title":"Do sufficiency consumption changes drive emissions down? A production network approach","authors":"Célia Escribe , Philippe Quirion","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103258","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103258","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Energy efficiency and decarbonized energy sources are central to climate change mitigation, but additional strategies may be needed to meet ambitious targets. Sufficiency, which involves reducing consumption and shifting to less environmentally impactful lifestyles, is increasingly considered a potential lever for decarbonization. However, its broader economic implications remain underexplored. This paper develops a static macroeconomic model with a detailed microeconomic production framework to analyze these implications. We derive comparative statics to unravel three primary propagation channels for consumption changes: direct demand effects, price effects, and substitution effects, based on the production network structure and elasticities of substitution. Using multi-regional input–output data, we assess the impacts of two sufficiency-driven consumption changes: adopting a vegetarian diet and reducing energy use. Our findings reveal significant rebound effects, up to 38 % for domestic emissions and 60 % for global emissions (accounting for carbon leakage), compared to estimates excluding behavioral aspects. Rebound effects from sufficiency strategies are smaller than those from energy efficiency improvements.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 103258"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145682368","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103264
Eleanor Krause
Between 2011 and 2016, coal mining employment declined by over 50 percent in Appalachia, producing sharp earnings and employment losses in coal-dependent communities. Whether these disruptions reflect temporary adjustment costs or signal more persistent decline depends in part on the extent and nature of local investment responses. This paper leverages differential Commuting Zone (CZ) exposure to coal’s decline to estimate its impact on government transfers and postsecondary training investments in Appalachia. I find that exposed CZs experienced a sizable and sustained rise in per capita transfer receipts, but no statistically detectable change in postsecondary awards, enrollment, or institutional finances. The absence of a training response persists when restricting to shorter-term programs at locally serving institutions and contrasts with documented effects in other settings. Given the central role of human capital in regional adjustment, these findings indicate that distressed regions affected by the transition away from legacy energy sectors may face greater challenges in adapting to structural change absent expanded educational investments.
{"title":"Adjusting to the energy transition: Training and transfers in coal country","authors":"Eleanor Krause","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103264","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103264","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Between 2011 and 2016, coal mining employment declined by over 50 percent in Appalachia, producing sharp earnings and employment losses in coal-dependent communities. Whether these disruptions reflect temporary adjustment costs or signal more persistent decline depends in part on the extent and nature of local investment responses. This paper leverages differential Commuting Zone (CZ) exposure to coal’s decline to estimate its impact on government transfers and postsecondary training investments in Appalachia. I find that exposed CZs experienced a sizable and sustained rise in per capita transfer receipts, but no statistically detectable change in postsecondary awards, enrollment, or institutional finances. The absence of a training response persists when restricting to shorter-term programs at locally serving institutions and contrasts with documented effects in other settings. Given the central role of human capital in regional adjustment, these findings indicate that distressed regions affected by the transition away from legacy energy sectors may face greater challenges in adapting to structural change absent expanded educational investments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 103264"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145571102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this paper, we investigate the local environmental and economic effects of lithium extraction in the Atacama Salt Flat (ASF) in Chile as a result of the global push for the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs). Utilizing granular administrative and remote sensing datasets, we assess the impacts of the extraction operations on water availability, vegetation, economic activity, and population dynamics in the ASF. Our findings reveal significant declines in groundwater levels as well as notable reductions in vegetation, economic activity, and local populations due to exposure to the extraction of lithium. We present evidence that the negative effect on vegetation was concentrated in human settlements as opposed to natural reserves, suggesting a reduction in agricultural activity. The main mechanism is the reduction in endemic forestry species and agricultural crops. This likely led to a decline in economic opportunities, which may explain the population outflow from areas around the ASF.
{"title":"The non-green effects of going green: Local environmental and economic consequences of lithium extraction in Chile","authors":"Leonardo Peñaloza-Pacheco , Vaios Triantafyllou , Gonzalo Martínez","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103257","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103257","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this paper, we investigate the local environmental and economic effects of lithium extraction in the Atacama Salt Flat (ASF) in Chile as a result of the global push for the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs). Utilizing granular administrative and remote sensing datasets, we assess the impacts of the extraction operations on water availability, vegetation, economic activity, and population dynamics in the ASF. Our findings reveal significant declines in groundwater levels as well as notable reductions in vegetation, economic activity, and local populations due to exposure to the extraction of lithium. We present evidence that the negative effect on vegetation was concentrated in human settlements as opposed to natural reserves, suggesting a reduction in agricultural activity. The main mechanism is the reduction in endemic forestry species and agricultural crops. This likely led to a decline in economic opportunities, which may explain the population outflow from areas around the ASF.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 103257"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145616615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103260
Martin Paul Jr. Tabe-Ojong , Emmanuel Tolani , Ernest L. Molua
We examine the impact of droughts on crop yields and forward-looking adaptive responses to extreme temperatures such as crop diversification and the adoption of climate-resilient crop varieties. We also investigate cropland adjustments in responding to past droughts. To do this, we combine panel data from 2012 to 2019 with satellite data on drought conditions. We also consider households' self-reported drought experiences. By estimating econometric models, we find that droughts lead to yield reductions with the most significant impact on beans (9.5 %), groundnuts (7.2 %), and maize (6.0 %). In response to past droughts, households cultivate more diverse crops with a lower tendency for crop concentration and specialization. Furthermore, households are increasingly turning to climate-resilient crop varieties with a 15 percentage point increase in adoption. These climate-resilient crop varieties are bred to withstand the threats posed by drought conditions as well as a range of climate change-induced pests and diseases. In response to droughts, households expand total cultivated land by about 11–18 %, thus balancing yield losses with increased land use. This is particularly the case for some crops like sorghum, cowpea and soybeans where we find an increase in acreage shares indicating relative dominance and competitiveness. Household perceptions of droughts correspond well with objective drought measures showing consistent implications on yields, diversification, adoption of resilient seeds and cropland expansion.
{"title":"Rolling back the tides: Impact of droughts on crop diversification and cropland expansion","authors":"Martin Paul Jr. Tabe-Ojong , Emmanuel Tolani , Ernest L. Molua","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103260","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103260","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine the impact of droughts on crop yields and forward-looking adaptive responses to extreme temperatures such as crop diversification and the adoption of climate-resilient crop varieties. We also investigate cropland adjustments in responding to past droughts. To do this, we combine panel data from 2012 to 2019 with satellite data on drought conditions. We also consider households' self-reported drought experiences. By estimating econometric models, we find that droughts lead to yield reductions with the most significant impact on beans (9.5 %), groundnuts (7.2 %), and maize (6.0 %). In response to past droughts, households cultivate more diverse crops with a lower tendency for crop concentration and specialization. Furthermore, households are increasingly turning to climate-resilient crop varieties with a 15 percentage point increase in adoption. These climate-resilient crop varieties are bred to withstand the threats posed by drought conditions as well as a range of climate change-induced pests and diseases. In response to droughts, households expand total cultivated land by about 11–18 %, thus balancing yield losses with increased land use. This is particularly the case for some crops like sorghum, cowpea and soybeans where we find an increase in acreage shares indicating relative dominance and competitiveness. Household perceptions of droughts correspond well with objective drought measures showing consistent implications on yields, diversification, adoption of resilient seeds and cropland expansion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 103260"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145616613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103256
Pablo Aguirre-Hormann , Francisco Donoso , Patricio Domínguez , Cristóbal De la Maza , Enzo E. Sauma
This study evaluates whether automated, customized notifications can improve environmental adherence at scale. Using a census panel from Chile's environmental regulator (SMA) with monthly compliance statuses from facilities' monitoring reports, we analyze a national deployment of notifications to all industrial wastewater dischargers. A regression discontinuity design at the rollout demonstrates null effects on substantive environmental obligations but significant improvements in administrative compliance: reporting timeliness increased between 17 % and 24.5 % with respect to baseline levels while completeness jumped between 53.7 % and 66 %. Post-rollout dynamics show persistent gains in administrative compliance and a delayed, not causally identified, rise in compliance with flow-discharge limits. Transition-hazard estimates show higher monthly exit from and lower entry into non-compliance for administrative duties, with increased exits from non-compliance for flow-discharge limits. Subgroup analyses indicate that facilities starting from lower pre-intervention compliance improve more on that same obligation and we find attenuated effects where facilities had recent regulatory attention. Taken together, our results are more consistent with behavioral adjustment than with strategic reporting, though manipulation cannot be ruled out. The presented evidence highlights the promise of technology-driven nudges to address informational barriers and enhance regulatory responses in resource-constrained settings. Our contributions are threefold: (1) quasi-experimental evidence of immediate notification effectiveness; (2) integrated dynamics and transition analyses that shed light on mechanisms of response; and (3) analyses of distributional effects.
{"title":"Is a nudge enough? Evidence from environmental compliance in Chile's industrial wastewater regulation","authors":"Pablo Aguirre-Hormann , Francisco Donoso , Patricio Domínguez , Cristóbal De la Maza , Enzo E. Sauma","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103256","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103256","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study evaluates whether automated, customized notifications can improve environmental adherence at scale. Using a census panel from Chile's environmental regulator (SMA) with monthly compliance statuses from facilities' monitoring reports, we analyze a national deployment of notifications to all industrial wastewater dischargers. A regression discontinuity design at the rollout demonstrates null effects on substantive environmental obligations but significant improvements in administrative compliance: reporting timeliness increased between 17 % and 24.5 % with respect to baseline levels while completeness jumped between 53.7 % and 66 %. Post-rollout dynamics show persistent gains in administrative compliance and a delayed, not causally identified, rise in compliance with flow-discharge limits. Transition-hazard estimates show higher monthly exit from and lower entry into non-compliance for administrative duties, with increased exits from non-compliance for flow-discharge limits. Subgroup analyses indicate that facilities starting from lower pre-intervention compliance improve more on that same obligation and we find attenuated effects where facilities had recent regulatory attention. Taken together, our results are more consistent with behavioral adjustment than with strategic reporting, though manipulation cannot be ruled out. The presented evidence highlights the promise of technology-driven nudges to address informational barriers and enhance regulatory responses in resource-constrained settings. Our contributions are threefold: (1) quasi-experimental evidence of immediate notification effectiveness; (2) integrated dynamics and transition analyses that shed light on mechanisms of response; and (3) analyses of distributional effects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 103256"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145616616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-12DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103259
Erica Myers , Ludovica Gazze , Andrea La Nauze
{"title":"Data, information, and the environment: An introduction to this special issue","authors":"Erica Myers , Ludovica Gazze , Andrea La Nauze","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103259","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103259","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"135 ","pages":"Article 103259"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145621166","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-11DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103255
Liqing Li , R.Aaron Hrozencik , Mani Rouhi Rad , Dilek Uz
Rural populations in the U.S. bear disproportionate energy expenses, with the median energy burden exceeding 9 % of household income in some regions. Two significant current trends, depopulation and climate change, could exacerbate this issue. Depopulation may lead to a significant decline in the customer base for electricity utilities, potentially driving up electricity bills as the non-power costs of maintaining and operating distribution networks are spread across fewer customers. Furthermore, climate change could increase household electric bills by elevating the rural utilities’ operations and maintenance (O&M) costs due to the accelerated depreciation of capital assets and reduced transmission efficiency under high temperatures. This paper examines the impact of changing populations and climate on electricity utilities, leveraging a novel dataset that characterizes the operations of rural electricity cooperatives. We find that increasing temperatures drive up O&M costs in the short-run. Moreover, we find asymmetrical effects of population increases and decreases on revenues collected from residential electric customers in the short term. When a utility’s customer base shrinks, the remaining customers face higher electricity bills as the utility passes on non-power purchasing costs to them. However, in the long-run, utilities adjust their O&M costs, reducing the burden on the remaining customers.
{"title":"The impacts of depopulation and climate change on the cost of rural electric services","authors":"Liqing Li , R.Aaron Hrozencik , Mani Rouhi Rad , Dilek Uz","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103255","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103255","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rural populations in the U.S. bear disproportionate energy expenses, with the median energy burden exceeding 9 % of household income in some regions. Two significant current trends, depopulation and climate change, could exacerbate this issue. Depopulation may lead to a significant decline in the customer base for electricity utilities, potentially driving up electricity bills as the non-power costs of maintaining and operating distribution networks are spread across fewer customers. Furthermore, climate change could increase household electric bills by elevating the rural utilities’ operations and maintenance (O&M) costs due to the accelerated depreciation of capital assets and reduced transmission efficiency under high temperatures. This paper examines the impact of changing populations and climate on electricity utilities, leveraging a novel dataset that characterizes the operations of rural electricity cooperatives. We find that increasing temperatures drive up O&M costs in the short-run. Moreover, we find asymmetrical effects of population increases and decreases on revenues collected from residential electric customers in the short term. When a utility’s customer base shrinks, the remaining customers face higher electricity bills as the utility passes on non-power purchasing costs to them. However, in the long-run, utilities adjust their O&M costs, reducing the burden on the remaining customers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"135 ","pages":"Article 103255"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145577243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-05DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103248
Alexander Dangel , Timo Goeschl
This paper studies temporal factors influencing the effectiveness of prosocial appeals used by policy-makers to encourage motorists to voluntarily reduce driving during temporary high pollution episodes. We derive and empirically validate a theoretical framework for repeated multi-day appeals where the desired behavioral response is sensitive to the number of consecutive appeal days and time intervals between appeal events. Our difference-in-differences event study analysis of traffic flows in Stuttgart, Germany shows appeals reduce traffic by about 3 % on the first three appeal days, but effectiveness tapers off during prolonged activation. Moreover, appeals reduce traffic by about 5 % following a lengthy time interval between appeals and are effective once authorities announce when they will be lifted. Our findings confirm prior North American evidence of limited appeal effectiveness in a novel European setting and highlight the relevance of dynamic temporal factors for voluntary short-term pollution mitigation programs.
{"title":"Air quality alerts and don’t drive appeals: Evidence on voluntary pollution mitigation dynamics from Germany","authors":"Alexander Dangel , Timo Goeschl","doi":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103248","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103248","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper studies temporal factors influencing the effectiveness of prosocial appeals used by policy-makers to encourage motorists to voluntarily reduce driving during temporary high pollution episodes. We derive and empirically validate a theoretical framework for repeated multi-day appeals where the desired behavioral response is sensitive to the number of consecutive appeal days and time intervals between appeal events. Our difference-in-differences event study analysis of traffic flows in Stuttgart, Germany shows appeals reduce traffic by about 3 % on the first three appeal days, but effectiveness tapers off during prolonged activation. Moreover, appeals reduce traffic by about 5 % following a lengthy time interval between appeals and are effective once authorities announce when they will be lifted. Our findings confirm prior North American evidence of limited appeal effectiveness in a novel European setting and highlight the relevance of dynamic temporal factors for voluntary short-term pollution mitigation programs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15763,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Economics and Management","volume":"135 ","pages":"Article 103248"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145526343","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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