Environmental Participation and Environmental Motivation

Abstract

Abstract:We explore whether environmental motivation affects environmental behavior by focusing on volunteering. The paper first introduces a theoretical model of volunteering in environmental organizations. In a next step, it tests the hypothesis working a large micro data set covering 32 countries from both Western and Eastern Europe using several different proxies to measure environmental motivation. As a robustness test we also explore the relationship at the macro level extending the number of countries investigated.Our results indicate a strong positive relationship between environmental motivation and individuals' voluntary engagement in environmental organizations.

Volunteering and life or financial shocks: does income and wealth matter?

“…It is less clear, however, whether behavioural commitments like volunteering change within such a short time frame. Our methodology also fails to account for the fact that volunteering is typically a local phenomenon (Brown, 1999b), one often motivated by a local failure to provide for community needs but whose opportunity set of activities tends to be defined by local government (Torgler et al, 2010). Future research should thus control for and/or explore the importance of such local factors.…”

“…In practical terms, voluntary work is performed without monetary reward, creating social outputs that would otherwise require financial resources. Such cooperation becomes very powerful when employed to collectively provide public goods and apply pressure for solving externalities (Torgler et al, 2010) or when helping to foster social well-being (Reed and Selbee, 2000). Volunteering is thus both economically and socially significant (DeVoe and Pfeffer, 2007).…”

Volunteering and Life or Financial Shocks: Does Income and Wealth Matter?

“…Volunteering is one aspect of the broader notion of social capital (Torgler et al, 2010), which in the Putnamesque view is especially noted for its persistence, for its slow accumulation 'shaped by historical legacies in a long-lasting manner' (Fidrmuc, 2014, p. 3). However, as Fidrmuc points out, little is known about how social capital is formed or rebuilt or how quickly it depreciates.…”

The Dynamics of Environmental Giving in Canada: Evidence of Rising Demand for Environmental Quality?

“…Over the past few decades, public support for the preservation of the environment appears to have grown along with an increasing number of studies devoted to examining factors affecting individual preferences for environmental quality (Howell and Laska, 1992; Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002; Barkan, 2004; Dupont, 2004; Israel, 2007; Torgler et al. , 2008).…”

“…, 2009). The presence of children in the household has been found to have a negative impact on donation behaviour (Barkan, 2004; Israel, 2007; Torgler et al. , 2008).…”