1636. The role of households in financing the move towards a sustainable economy: results from a lab-in-the-field experiment in Italy
Invited abstract in session TD-9: Insurance and financial innovation for sustainable growth , stream OR in Finance and Insurance .
Tuesday, 14:30-16:00Room: Clarendon SR 2.01
Authors (first author is the speaker)
| 1. | Beatrice Bertelli
|
| Department of Economics, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia | |
| 2. | Marianna Brunetti
|
| University Rome Tor Vergata, Cefin and Ceis | |
| 3. | Costanza Torricelli
|
| Economics, University of Modena and R.E. | |
| 4. | Mariangela Zoli
|
| University Rome Tor Vergata |
Abstract
Based on survey data from a lab-in-the-field experiment ran in October-November 2024 in different branches of a large Italian bank, this paper investigates the household Willingness to Pay (WTP) for sustainable assets with the final aim of exploring the effect of a visual treatment and possible differences across the three sustainability dimensions, i.e. E, S and G. Three are the main results based on a linear regression model. First, once observations of incoherent or ESG-averse individuals are dropped from the sample, the estimate for the negative visual treatment reaches marginal significance, whereby the positive one is not significant, implying that only the exposure to a negative visual treatment is associated to an increase in the WTP for ESG. Second, both treatments are not significant once control variables are added, with the WTP lower for graduates, but higher for those with a medium investment horizon, aware of climate change, worried about pollution and engaged in volunteering. Third, when dissecting results by the factor of interest, the negative visual treatment significantly increases the WTP for the E dimension only. This result hints to household investors not considering sustainability as multidimensional, but it is encouraging since the treatment used leveraged on the environmental dimension only. Hence, the correct leverage might stimulate the demand for ESG assets and a potentially positive WTP for them, with obvious industry and policy implications.
Keywords
- Finance and Banking
- Sustainable Development
Status: accepted
Back to the list of papers