Abstract
In this paper, we conduct a two-part survey to understand the role of misperception in determining the willingness to pay (WTP) for clean air in the US. First, we conduct an incentivized survey to elicit beliefs about air pollution and beliefs about the relationship between pollution and health. We then test whether information provision decreases misperceptions on average, or decreases differences in misperception across demographic groups. Finally, we use a real-stakes exercise to test whether respondents’ WTP for clean air changes when they update their beliefs about air pollution. We find that respondents overestimate air pollution exposure as well as the pollution-health gradient. Beliefs about relative air pollution exposure are unbiased but noisy. The follow-up survey shows that respondents update their beliefs about relative air pollution exposure and the relationship between pollution and health, but only the latter leads to significant changes in WTP for clean air.
Matthew Tarduno
https://matt-tarduno.github.io/
