Economic vs. Generational Inequality

• In Event: Assessing Environment-Economy Tradeoffs

Abstract

Climate change policies often aim to change consumer behaviour by increasing the price tag of certain goods and services. Although this is often touted as one of the more effective ways of combatting climate change, it is not without its disadvantages: they tend to carry a disproportionally higher burden (in terms of financial cost) to those with lower wages. These policies can either exasperate existing income inequalities, or contribute to generating new ones.
Meanwhile, refraining from engaging with climate mitigation policies will incur other detrimental societal costs: the financial burden and the struggles future generations will face if nothing is done. We examine this trade-off between the immediate inequality citizens face from climate mitigation policies (in terms of carbon trading) vs. the long-term generational inequalities future generations will face. We assess this trade-off using a between-subjects survey experiment, fielded among German citizens.

Authors

• Nanna Lauritz Schönhage, Universität Konstanz

• Gabriele S. Spilker, University of Konstanz

• Nanna Lauritz Schönhage, Universität Konstanz