Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Peer Effects in Residential Water Conservation: Evidence from Migration

2020; American Economic Association; Volume: 12; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1257/pol.20180559

1945-7812

Bryan Bollinger, Jesse Burkhardt, Kenneth Gillingham,

Economic and Environmental Valuation

Social interactions are widely understood to influence consumer decisions in many choice settings. This paper identifies causal peer effects in residential water conservation during the summer using variation from movers. We classify high-resolution remote sensing images to provide evidence that conversions of green landscaping to dry landscaping are a primary determinant of the reductions in water consumption. We also find suggestive evidence that without a price signal, peer effects are muted, indicating a possible complementarity between information and prices. These results inform water use policy in many areas of the world threatened by recurring drought conditions. (JEL D12, L95, Q25, Q54, Z13)