Julio Videras

Do All Countries Follow the Same Growth Process

We estimate a finite mixture model in which countries are sorted into groups based on the similarity of the conditional distributions of their growth rates. We strongly reject the hypothesis that all countries follow a common growth process in favor of a model in which there are two classes of countries, each with its own distinct growth process. Group membership does not conform to the usual categories used to control for parameter heterogeneity such as region or income. However, we find strong evidence that one country characteristic that helps to sort countries into different regimes is the quality of institutions, specifically, the degree of law and order. Once institutional features of the economy are controlled for, we find no evidence that geographic characteristics play a role in determining the country groupings.

Culture and Public Goods: The Case of Religion and the Voluntary Provision of Environmental Quality

Using data from approximately 13,000 individuals in 14 different OECD regions, we find that culture, as expressed by religious beliefs, generates public goods contributions. We characterize individuals into systems of religious beliefs using latent class analysis and find that some types of beliefs influence pro-environment behaviors and attitudes, even after controlling for religious affiliation, political views and activism, and socio-demographic characteristics. We find a role for beliefs that is separate from social capital accumulated via membership in church groups and church attendance. Finally, we make a methodological contribution by showing that the use of latent class analysis to describe systems of beliefs yields more meaningful interpretations than the standard approach of dummy variables for specific beliefs.

Trust, Cooperation, and Implementation of Sustainability Programs: The Case of Local Agenda 21

This paper provides evidence of the role of trust in ensuring desirable economic outcomes. We examine the implementation of Local Agenda 21, a regional sustainability initiative that requires the coordination of diverse decision-makers, in a sample of approximately 66 developing and industrialized countries. We use a game theoretic framework to motivate the empirical model. We find that higher levels of citizen trust are associated with more communities in a country adopting a program that requires coordination of multiple stakeholders. We also find that more programs are adopted when the countrys institutional structure is likely to reduce the cost of coordination and when the benefits of the program, measured by environmental quality, would be expected to be greater.

Reconsidering Social Capital: A Latent Class Approach

Social capital has proven to be a useful concept, but has not been well-measured in the economics literature. We motivate and demonstrate the application of latent class models to measure social capital, based on the idea that social capital is an unobservable multidimensional construct. We explain and show the construction of latent classes that measure an individual’s social capital using data from the General Social Survey. Our method generates meaningfully different conclusions about the accumulation of social capital than those obtained by previous research. We present evidence that higher income influences social capital accumulation because of a higher opportunity cost of time. We also find evidence of complementarities in social capital accumulation within an individual’s peer group. Finally, we show that community heterogeneity influences the likelihood that individuals adhere to certain social norms independent of their propensity to participate in voluntary organizations.

Public Goods Provision and Well-Being: Empirical Evidence Consistent with the Warm Glow Theory

Abstract Using a broad multi-country sample, we find that individuals who contribute to the public good of environmental protection report higher levels of life satisfaction and happiness. We show that this result is robust to the use of an instrumental variables technique and provide several pieces of evidence that this positive relationship between contributions and well-being is due to a warm-glow motive. First, well-being does not increase proportionally with contributions, consistent with the warm-glow model that it is the act of giving that generates utility. Second, individuals who think of themselves as socially responsible derive greater satisfaction from their contribution to environmental protection as would be the case if the contribution reinforces a favorable self image. Interestingly, conforming to a social norm may be a motivation for some individuals, but the presence of this motive depends on individual attitudes towards social responsibility. Among those who express the highest level of social responsibility, conforming to the norm makes them less satisfied with life. However, individuals with a moderate level of social responsibility do report higher levels of happiness when their public goods contributions conform to societal norms.

Heat Waves, Droughts and Preferences for Environmental Policy

Using data from a new household survey on environmental attitudes, behaviors, and policy preferences, we find that current weather conditions affect preferences for environmental regulation. Individuals who have recently experienced extreme weather (heat waves or droughts) are more likely to support laws to protect the environment even if it means restricting individual freedoms. We find evidence that the channel through which weather conditions affect policy preference is via perceptions of the importance of the issue of global warming. Furthermore, individuals who may be more sophisticated consumers of news are less likely to have their attitudes towards global warming changed by current weather conditions.

Ethnic heterogeneity and the enforcement of environmental regulation

Abstract We examine the relationship between the administrative enforcement of environmental regulation, ethnic heterogeneity, and other community characteristics in New Jersey and New York. We find that the percentage of non-white population in a community is positively related with administrative penalties imposed on violators. However, penalties are lower in more ethnically diverse communities. This result may be due to the fact that these communities are less likely to coordinate to create solidarity across ethnic groups and demand stronger enforcement.

Identity and Environmentalism: The Influence of Community Characteristics

This paper examines the influence of community characteristics on self-proclaimed environmentalism. We find that the composition of a community affects the likelihood that a person claims to be a strong environmentalist, even after controlling for individual characteristics and pro-environment behaviors. Individuals are more likely to definitely agree they are strong environmentalists if they live in areas where a large share of the population has post-graduate degrees and if they live in heavily Democratic areas or heavily Republican areas. These community effects occur only when individuals are predisposed to take on an environmental identity.

MORE INFORMATION IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER: THE CASE OF VOLUNTARY PROVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

This paper adds to the literature on the voluntary provision of public goods by showing that the warm glow that individuals gain depends on the perceived relative effectiveness of contributions. We use a new survey on pro-environment behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge and find that individuals act in accordance with their beliefs, regardless of whether or not these beliefs are accurate, and engage more frequently in activities that have a higher perceived impact on environmental quality. We find that low provision of the public good is greater among people who believe they cannot do much for the environment and do not consider themselves environmentalists.

Civic Cooperation, Pro-Environment Attitudes, and Individual Behavior

Using data from approximately 30,000 individuals in over 30 countries, we find evidence that an individuals level of civic cooperation is positively associated with pro-environment attitudes. The relationship between civic cooperation and actual behavior is more complex. Civic cooperation increases the probability of belonging to or volunteering for an environmental group, but only among those individuals who have a high level of trust in these groups. Furthermore, the influence of civic cooperation on environmental attitudes and behaviors varies with the level of development and the environmental quality of the country in which an individual lives. Finally, we document a positive relationship between pro-environment attitudes and behavior, although pro-environment attitudes are much more prevalent world-wide than pro-environment behavior.