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Using Information to Improve Global Cooperation: A Climate Change Experiment

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  • Pedro Naso; Tania Theoduloz; Nicholas Tyack; Dambala Gelo; Mare Sarr; Timothy Swanson

Abstract

We run an experiment in five countries with 7,132 participants to study how information on the contribution of others influences contributions to climate change mitigation. Participants receive artificially generated information on the average contribution of others, on the ranking of contributions and endowments of others, and on others’ nationalities. We show that (i) participants from developed countries free ride on the average of others, whereas participants from developing countries follow the lead of the majority; (ii) information on the ranking of contributions increases participants’ contributions as compared to information on the average of others; and (iii) participants dislike to be in the first and last position of the contribution ranking. Our results suggest that a country’s contribution to climate change mitigation can be promoted by using information on the contributions of other countries.

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  • Pedro Naso; Tania Theoduloz; Nicholas Tyack; Dambala Gelo; Mare Sarr; Timothy Swanson, 2021. "Using Information to Improve Global Cooperation: A Climate Change Experiment," CIES Research Paper series 72-2021, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_72
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