Lecture 7

Question 1

definition behavioral economics

Answer 1

the decision of individuals about innovations & technology, studied from micro-economics perspective
- interaction with local, regional, national and global socio-economic contexts, political frameworks and trends

Question 2

unexpected behavioral effects of policy interventions

Answer 2

• negative spillover
• positive spillover
• single action bias/finite pool of worry
• economic framing of monetary sanctions/rewards

Question 3

definition single action bias

Answer 3

refers to the phenomenon that if two actions are perceived as fulfilling the same goal, they may be viewed as substitutable, leading to an assumption that a single behavior is sufficient to resolve the issue
- example: farmers who took precautionary measures to increase capacity for grain storage on their farms to adapt to climate variability were subsequently significantly less likely to adopt additional climate adaptation behaviors than other farmers who had not increased grain storage capacity

Question 4

positive spillover “model”

Answer 4

behavior 1
–>
pro-environmental goals and values
environmental identity
skills and knowledge
self-efficacy
–> behavior 2

• cognitive dissonance
• foot-in-the-door
• hedonic goals + biospheric goals

Question 5

Social practice theory

Answer 5

• meaning, competences & material
• learning: change in self-efficacy & skills
• priming: change in identity, goals & values

Question 6

negative spillover

Answer 6

• creates a rebound effect
  related processes:
• technological: increase in efficiency
• psychological: moral licensing
• financial: example, isolation, able to do “onderhuur”, more costs anyway

Question 7

findings article “real time feedback promotes energy conservation in the absence of selection bias & monetary incentives

Answer 7

• put a polar beer melting on a iceberg in showers
• showed that it indeed helped reduce the energy costs
• done in Switzerland, not very representative
• done with uninformed participants