Séminaire du CIRED : Taisuke Imai (LMU Munich)

Abstract

We conduct two studies to understand the role of information in reducing consumers’ carbon emissions. In an incentivized and representative survey of US consumers, we find sizable misperceptions about the carbon impact of different consumption behaviors and a concave willingness to mitigate impact. With these measures as inputs, we use a structural model to predict the optimal targeting of information campaigns. A subsequent experiment shows that information has no impact on the purchase of beef, a supposedly productive target of information. Our results call into question the faith many climate policies place in information provision.