The Cold Shiver of Not Giving Enough: On the Social Cost of Recycling Campaigns
研究了政府通过呼吁消费者责任而非经济激励来促进回收等公共品贡献时，可能带来的社会成本，即加重消费者感知责任导致的福利损失。
<i>Governments sometimes try to increase individuals’ contributions to public goods through appeals to consumer responsibility, rather than by economic incentives, for example in recycling campaigns. Using standard consumer theory, one would hardly expect such campaigns to work at all; but if consumers are motivated by norms, appeals may work through changing consumers’ perception of the norm requirement. However, increasing voluntary contributions through appeals may come at a social cost. The reason is that appeals work through imposing a heavier (perceived) responsibility on consumers. This represents a welfare loss, which is not necessarily outweighed by “warm glow” benefits.</i>