Effects of Norms and Opportunity Cost of Time on Household Recycling

Abstract

Social and moral norms and the opportunity cost of time will affect household recycling efforts. A model is developed to describe how norms affect the recycling decision through feelings of self-respect, guilty conscience, and warm-glow, as well as respect in, and sanctions from, the community. We find that the opportunity cost of time has a significant negative effect on household recycling. All indicators of warm-glow, social, and moral norms increase household recycling efforts. We find no evidence of crowding-out, neither when recycling is perceived as mandatory, nor when economic incentives are introduced in the form of a differentiated garbage fee.