Pecuniary and non-pecuniary determinants of household recycling behavior
Date
2011
Authors
Hicks, Erin, author
Seidl, Andrew, advisor
Kipperberg, Gorm, advisor
Kling, Robert, committee member
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Abstract
This article examines the effects of both the pecuniary variables (such as prices) traditionally favored by economists and the non-pecuniary variables (such as attitudes and beliefs) preferred by psychologists on household recycling behavior. In order to better explore what decisions households are actually making when they recycle, three dependent variables are examined: recycling rate, waste disposal container size, and time spent recycling. The recycling rate decision is well-explained by a combination of pecuniary and non-pecuniary variables, especially price, difficulty of recycling, and perceived social pressure to recycle. Non-pecuniary variables have the least influence on the how much time respondents spent recycling, which depends primarily on household size. Calculated consumer surplus from recycling activity is $386 per year.
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Subject
recycling