Intergenerational altruism and climate policy preferences

• Published in: PNAS nexus Vol. 3; no. 4; p. pgae105
• Main Authors: Agneman, Gustav, Henriks, Sofia, Bäck, Hanna, Renström, Emma
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: US Oxford University Press 01.04.2024
• Subjects: Altruism; Analysis; Annan samhällsvetenskap; Climate change; Climate change mitigation; Climate policy; climate policy preferences; Climatic changes; Economics and Business; Ekonomi och näringsliv; Environmental aspects; Environmental policy; Heterogeneity; Human influences; Immunoglobulin A; intergenerational altruism; Other Social Sciences; Psychological aspects; Psychology; Psykologi; Robustness; Samhällsvetenskap; Social and Political Sciences; Social aspects; Social Sciences; survey experiment; Sweden; Norway; survey experiment; climate policy preferences; intergenerational altruism
• ISSN: 2752-6542; 2752-6542
• DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae105

Abstract Climate mitigation constitutes an intergenerational moral dilemma; the decisions we make today will inevitably shape the prospects for generations to come. Yet, we still know little about the relationship between intergenerational altruism (IGA)—our concerns for the well-being of future generations—and support for costly climate mitigation policies. In this study, we present an approach to measuring IGA through an intergenerational dilemma, where participants allocate resources across generations. First, we describe how IGA depends on the temporal (social) distance between generations and demonstrate robust correlations between IGA and support for several climate policies. Then, we leverage randomized participation in the intergenerational dilemma to show that it causally increases climate policy support, an effect we attribute to higher worries about human-induced climate change among treated subjects. An exploratory heterogeneity analysis suggests that the impact of the intergenerational dilemma is primarily driven by female and nonbinary participants. In sum, this study presents both a novel measurement strategy and robust evidence of a malleable moral basis of climate policy preferences.