Paying for Mitigation: A Multiple Country Study

A contingent valuation study conducted in China, Sweden, and the United States was used to investigate citizens' willingness to pay (WTP) for reducing CO₂ emissions. We find that a majority of the respondents in all three countries believe that the mean global temperature has increased over the last 100 years and that humans are responsible for the increase. The share of Americans that believes these statements is smaller, and a relatively larger share of Americans also believes that nothing can be done to stop climate change. Sweden has the highest WTP, while China has the lowest. (JEL Q51, Q54)