This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. ASSA Annual Meeting
  3. 2024
  4. Program
  5. Recreation and Transportation Choice
« Back to Results

Recreation and Transportation Choice

Paper Session

Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (CST)

Grand Hyatt, Bonham D
Hosted By: Association of Environmental and Resource Economists
  • Chair: Todd Gerarden, Cornell University

The Nature of Discrimination in Recreation Decision Making

Jesse D. Backstrom
,
Texas State University
Richard T. Woodward
,
Texas A&M University

Abstract

Although a large literature identifies discrimination in numerous economic settings (e.g., labor and housing markets, policing, and in relation to environmental outcomes), little is known about the extent that individuals are willing to pay (WTP) to avoid diversity. Using a revealed preference approach, Backstrom and Woodward (2023) explore this issue in a novel setting: marine recreational fishing destination choice. They find anglers are willing to encumber additional travel costs to avoid sites in areas that are more racially and ethnically (RE) distant. The economic costs of this behavior are large and suggest the benefits from recreation and tourism are not accruing equitably to coastal communities. In this paper, we build on Backstrom and Woodward (2023) by testing the predictions of two competing theories to explain the observed discrimination. That is, we test whether the discrimination is taste-based, where agents have underlying RE preferences (Becker 1957); and/or statistical, which arises under settings of imperfect information where agents use observable characteristics, such as RE, to infer unobserved characteristics in decision making (Phelps 1972; Arrow 1973). Our results can be described in three stages. First, using a larger sample size, we find anglers have a positive WTP to avoid sites in areas with Black and Hispanic proportions that are more predominant than their home origin. Second, using data on reported fishing experience, we find evidence consistent with the predictions of statistical discrimination theory, as more avid anglers exhibit lower levels of discrimination towards sites in more RE distant areas. Third, after sorting anglers into two groups– those originating from ZIP Codes with an above (below) national-median White population proportion– we find evidence of taste-based discrimination as the site choices of anglers from less diverse origins are more sensitive to RE considerations than those from origins with a greater degree of diversity.

Displacing Congestion: Evidence from Paris

Léa Bou Sleiman
,
Ecole Polytechnique

Abstract

This paper shows that road-closing policies may have adverse short-run effects on pollution by reallocating traffic toward more congested roads. I study the impact of the 2016 closure of the Voie Georges Pompidou, a one-way expressway crossing downtown Paris, on traffic and pollution displacement. To do so, I rely on a difference-in-difference strategy based on the direction and the timing of traffic, which I implement on detailed road-sensor data. I show that the closure lowered average speed by over 15% on two sets of substitute roads: central streets nearby and the already congested southern ring road. Using air quality data, I show that NO2 emissions increased by 6% near the ring road and by 1.5% near local roads. The reduced-form results on traffic are quantitatively consistent with a calibrated model of shortest route choice, which allows me to recover the underlying rerouting patterns. Even though few displaced commuters diverted to the ring road, they triggered a massive pollution increase because of the U-shaped relationship between emissions and traffic speed. Overall, I estimate that up to 90% of the pollution cost was borne by lower-income residents around the ring road, who lived far away from the new amenity created by the closure and mostly outside the jurisdiction responsible for the closure decision. Finally, I study counterfactual closure scenarios to assess under which conditions those adverse effects could have been mitigated.

Show Me the Money! Incentives versus Nudges to Shift Electric Vehicle Charging

Megan R. Bailey
,
University of Calgary
David P. Brown
,
University of Alberta
Blake Shaffer
,
University of Calgary
Frank Wolak
,
Stanford University

Abstract

The electrification of the transportation sector is the anticipated pathway toward its decarbonization. The market share of electric vehicles (EVs) is already expanding rapidly. However, the impact of this growth on electric grids will largely depend on when EVs are charged. Current electric distribution systems are not prepared for a full conversion to EVs; coincident charging among consumers can lead to distribution grid failure. If consumer EV charging can be coordinated, however, costly grid upgrades can be avoided. Using a field experiment, we test the effectiveness of financial incentives vs moral suasion “nudges” to shift charging to off-peak hours. The nudge group receives information highlighting the system benefits of charging in off-peak hours (10pm - 6am in our experiment) without any financial rewards. The financial group receives the same information but is also rewarded with 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for all charging during off-peak hours. (The baseline electricity rate is about 10-20 cents per kWh during the treatment period). Using a differences-in-differences estimation strategy, we find no effect from the nudge treatment. The financially incentivized group, however, shifts their share of off-peak charging from roughly 50% to over 70%. We assess the potential for consumers to form charging habits from financial incentives by randomizing half of the financial group to stop receiving payments. Removing the incentives results in behavior quickly reverting to pre-intervention behavior. These findings emphasize the importance of well-designed tariffs that financially reward behavior that aligns with the time-varying marginal cost of electricity systems.

Attribute Production and Technical Change in Automobiles: Implications for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards

Asa Watten
,
Yale University
Soren Anderson
,
Michigan State University
Gloria Helfand
,
University of Michigan

Abstract

We study how innovation, preferences, and policy interact to shape car attributes using theory and US purchase data for 1995--2017. We find that drivetrain costs fell by 1.5% per year, with technologies first adopted among buyers of attribute-rich cars. Innovation was biased in favor of fuel economy, reinforced by rising gas prices. Yet size and acceleration both increased, which we attribute to surging demand for these attributes. We show that gas taxes and efficiency standards induce innovation that reduces the cost of adding fuel-saving technology, such that size and acceleration become less sensitive to further changes in policy.

Discussant(s)
John Whitehead
,
Appalachian State University
Sarah Johnston
,
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sara Avila
,
University of Colorado-Boulder
James Archsmith
,
University of Maryland
JEL Classifications
  • R4 - Transportation Economics
  • Q5 - Environmental Economics