Willingness to pay for the environment : the role of social status and of prosocial orientation

Based on an international survey, this paper examines how individual characteristicsinfluence willingness to pay for environmental protection. We interpret willingnessto pay as a relevant component of climate policy acceptability, especially when policiesimpose direct costs on individuals. We contribute to the literature by showing thepositive impact of social status (how respondents place themselves on the social scale)and of prosocial orientation (whether respondents act for the environment independentlyof others). Both remain significant after controlling for other factors identifiedin the literature, notably income and education. Our results suggest that two typesof communication may strengthen individuals’ willingness to pay for the environment:(1) campaigns aimed at influencing subjective social status, potentially through determinantsidentified in the literature; and (2) campaigns aimed at shaping prosocialorientation, that is, convincing individuals that personal actions are meaningful evenwhen others do not act. In addition, we show that acceptability of climate policies ismore likely when they impose net costs on individuals who rank themselves in the top40% of the population (social status), and on the 50% of individuals who are willing toact independently of others (prosocial orientation). By contrast, policies that imposenet costs on individuals with lower subjective social status or on the less prosocial halfof the population are more likely to face opposition. Furthermore, social status (especiallywhen low) and income are more important in lower-income countries, whereas inhigher-income countries, prosocial orientation prevails and income loses importance.