Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/127333 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Paper Series No. 517
Publisher: 
University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics, Heidelberg
Abstract: 
In the climate policy debate, a rhetoric has evolved that attributes a high potential to "voluntary climate action". We turn to the population of Germany, the fourth largest cumulative GHG emitter, to obtain an Internet-)representative estimate of the individual willingness to abate one ton of CO2, the equivalent of 10 percent of annual per-capita CO2 emissions. The estimate derives from a large-scale (n=2,440) framed field experiment in which subjects choose between a guaranteed reduction of one ton of EU CO2 emissions and a randomly drawn cash award between €2 and €100. At €6.30, estimated mean WTP is considerably lower than prior hypothetical or non-representative estimates. Median WTP is non-positive. The almost bimodal nature of WTP in the population has important policy implications.
Subjects: 
climate change mitigation
field experiment
voluntary climate action
willingness to pay
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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