Altruism and the Demand for Environmental Quality

This paper asks whether individuals consider the value future generations will receive from environmental quality when deciding what level of environmental protection to provide. Using data on life expectancy, I develop two tests for altruism towards future generations. One, a test for strong altruism, asks whether individual motives are purely altruistic when deciding to provide environmental quality. The second, a test for weak altruism, combines an individual’s concern for both self-interest and the interest of future generations. Using data from a Washington Post survey on environmental attitudes to implement the test, I find evidence of weak altruism. The author would like to thank William Nordhaus, Dietrich Earnhart, and two anonymous referees for helpful comments. As usual, any remaining errors are the responsibility of the author. Altruism and the Demand for Environmental Quality