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Behavioral Economics Commons

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Steven E. Sexton

Selected Works

2011

Public good

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Behavioral Economics

Conspicuous Conservation And Private Provision Of Public Goods, Steven E. Sexton, Alison Sexton Jul 2011

Conspicuous Conservation And Private Provision Of Public Goods, Steven E. Sexton, Alison Sexton

Steven E. Sexton

No abstract provided.


Paying For Pollution? How General Equilibrium Effects Undermine The 'Spare The Air' Program, Steven E. Sexton Mar 2011

Paying For Pollution? How General Equilibrium Effects Undermine The 'Spare The Air' Program, Steven E. Sexton

Steven E. Sexton

Policy-makers have relied on non-coercive mechanisms to achieve socially optimal outcomes in a variety of contexts when prices fail to ration scarce resources. Amid heightened concern about environmental damage and climate change, public appeals for cooperation and pecuniary incentives are frequently used to achieve resource conservation and other prosocial behavior. Yet the relative effectiveness of these two instruments is poorly understood when pecuniary incentives are small. This paper examines the extent to which free transit fares and appeals for car trip avoidance reduce car pollution on smoggy days. Using data on freeway traffic volumes and transit ridership, public appeals for …