Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/339491 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IFS Working Papers No. 25/19
Publisher: 
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), London
Abstract: 
Existing evidence from surveys and text analysis of social media suggests that women have more pro-environmental attitudes than men. However, there is little evidence of concrete gender differences in patterns of greenhouse gas emissions. We develop a new approach to structurally estimating gender differences in emissions propensity, grounded in a household bargaining model augmented with emissions parameters. Using UK data, we find that women have lower emissions propensities than men, and therefore greater female empowerment is associated with lower household emissions intensity. If the average UK heterosexual working couple transitioned to gender-equal bargaining, its emissions would fall by more than 2%. Our findings suggest that policies aimed at increasing female bargaining power, for instance by narrowing gender pay gaps, may have the additional benefit of reducing household emissions.
Subjects: 
Women
Self-help
Air pollution
Environmental awareness
Gender differences
United Kingdom
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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