Are experienced people affected by a pre-set default option—Results from a field experiment

• Published in: Journal of environmental economics and management Vol. 63; no. 1; pp. 66 - 72
• Main Authors: Löfgren, Åsa, Martinsson, Peter, Hennlock, Magnus, Sterner, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Elsevier Inc 2012; Elsevier Science Publishing Company, Inc
• Subjects: Alternatives; Attenuation; Carbon; carbon markets; Carbon offsets; CO 2 offsetting; Conduction; Conferences; Decision analysis; Default option; Economics; economists; Empirical research; Environmental economics; Experiments; Field experiment; field experimentation; Field work; Individual behaviour; Management; Measurement; Nationalekonomi; Preferences; Public goods; Robustness; Studies; Default option; CO 2 offsetting; Public goods; Field experiment

The objective of the present paper is to investigate the robustness of the well-known result that pre-set default options determine people's choices. We do so by conducting a field experiment among environmental economists attending a large international conference on environmental economics. T...