Env. & Dev. Econ. Research SeminarPublic gob provision: Theory and experimental designDaniel Heyen
4. Dezember 2019
Abstract: Inspired by the possibility to modify global temperatures on a short timescale and inexpensively through so-called ‘solar geoengineering’, Weitzman coined the term ‘public gob’: A public good (more of it is better) for some under some circumstances and a public bad (more of it is worse) for others under some other circumstances. In addition to free-riding incentives, public gobs are prone to ‘free-driving’: the agent with the strongest preference may set the public gob level for all, leading to over-provision of the public gob. We argue that public gobs aptly capture interactions involving externalities in examples that extend well beyond geoengineering. We develop a theoretical framework for the non-cooperative public gob provision that includes both Weitzman’s model and standard public good frameworks as special cases. We also present an experimental design to test preferences for public gob provision.
Zeit: 12:15 - 13.45 Uhr
Raum: 0079 VMP 5