Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/320092 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 11871
Publisher: 
CESifo GmbH, Munich
Abstract: 
We implement Pigovian transport pricing in a field experiment in urban agglomerations of Switzerland over the course of 8 weeks. Our pricing considers the external costs from climate damages, health outcomes from pollution, accidents and physical activity, and congestion. It varies across time, space and mode of transport and is deducted from a budget provided to GPS-tracked participants. The treatment reduces the external costs of transport by 4.6% during the course of the experiment. The main underlying mechanism is a shift away from driving towards other modes, such as public transport, walking and cycling. Providing information about the external costs of transport alone is insufficient to change the transport behavior for the sample majority. We compute the welfare improvement due to mode shift to be 77 Swiss francs (or US dollars) per person and year, and that a fuel tax would achieve 70% of this gain.
Subjects: 
transport pricing
Pigovian taxation
mobility
transportation
external costs
congestion
GPS-tracking
JEL: 
H23
H31
I18
Q52
Q54
R41
R48
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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