The thesis by J. Foramitti (subproject/SP2a) evaluated relative performance of key climate policies under realistic assumptions about polluters’ behaviour: carbon tax, permit market, and direct regulation. Two chapters compare policy performance on supply-side, while two others give attention to demand-side (including well-being). It also compares upstream and downstream regulation.
The thesis by F. Klein (SP2b) explored the potential for an employment double dividend (DD) of environmental tax revision (ETR). One study undertook empirical analysis of the relationship between work time, leisure activities and resulting energy use for different types of employees, with applications to two France and Finland. Next, an agent-based model (ABM) was developed to replicate a general equilibrium model (GEM) of ETR by Aubert & Chiroleu-Assouline (2019), testing the potential for “agentization” of a GEM. The ABM was then extended, e.g. with heterogeneous households in terms of education/skills, gender, employment sector, and time use.
The thesis by T. Konc (SP3a) combined market-equilibrium and agent-based modelling to climate policy in a setting of social interactions. Interdependence of agents' preferences is found to create dynamic, endogenous preferences, in turn giving rise to a "social multiplier” of climate policy. Model analysis shows that policy outcomes depend on the strength of social influence, preference polarization, social network topology, and income inequality. Analysis for Spain indicates that the social multiplier allows reducing the effective carbon tax by 38%. The social multiplier can be increased through information and social-network policies. An additional study examines dynamic opinions of socially-influenced agents for climate policy support. Support depends on individual political preferences and influence in a social network, until convergence.
The thesis by J. Castro (SP3b) examined how advertising interacts with social norms in terms of consumer choice of low- versus high carbon products. A first experiment presented participants with a pro-environmental social norm and green advertising in a simulated Facebook page to test effectiveness of enhancing low-carbon choices. Communicating a pro-environmental social norm in the presence of commercial advertising is found to have little effect as advertising dominates. A second experiment examined potential negative spillovers from initial green purchases to subsequent green purchases and climate policy support.
A selection of studies with postdocs (Dr S. Drews, Dr F. Exadaktylos and Dr I. Savin) in a lead role: Analysis of energy rebound under bounded rationality (SP4, in Nature Energy). It finds that behaviours reflecting limited rationality and willpower may increase rebound. A study of public acceptability of carbon taxation in Spain (SP1&5, in Nature Communications) conducted a survey experiment to test how revenue uses, prior knowledge, and information provision about functioning of carbon taxation affect policy support. We repeated the survey with additional questions after the outbreak of COVID-19, to test how COVID-19 affected public engagement with the climate crisis (published in Ecological Economics & PLOS One).
Dissemination involved many lectures and a dozen or so articles in newspapers & popular-science magazines. In addition, members of my team, were the main organizers of an International Conference on Low-Carbon Lifestyle Changes (LCLC) at ICTA-UAB, 6-8 May 2020. Lessons learned are reported here: Foramitti, J., S. Drews, F. Klein and T. Konc (2021). The virtues of virtual conferences. Journal of Cleaner Production 294, 126287.
