Willingness-to-Pay and Policy Instrument Choice

A survey of 2,034 American adults found an average annual willingness-to-pay (WTP) of $79 to $89 to reduce domestic greenhouse-gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020. The study found that mean WTP does not vary significantly between cap-and-trade, carbon taxes, or GHG regulations, although sociodemographic factors and beliefs about global warming influence individual WTP levels.

• Based on a survey of 2,034 American adults, the average household willingness-to-pay (WTP) to reduce domestic greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 17 percent by 2020 is between $79 and $89 per year, with conservative estimates remaining at or above $60 per year.
• The mean willingness-to-pay does not differ substantially regardless of whether the policy instrument is a carbon tax, a GHG regulation, or a cap-and-trade program.
• Willingness-to-pay is influenced by sociodemographic factors: higher education increases WTP across all instruments; higher household income increases WTP for carbon taxes and GHG regulations; and older individuals have lower WTP for carbon taxes and GHG regulations. Republicans and those with no party affiliation show significantly lower WTP across all instruments, though many of these differences diminish when controlling for beliefs about whether global warming is occurring.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2012). Willingness-to-Pay and Policy Instrument Choice. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/willingness-to-pay-and-policy-instrument-choice/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Willingness-to-Pay and Policy Instrument Choice. 2012. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/willingness-to-pay-and-policy-instrument-choice/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Willingness-to-Pay and Policy Instrument Choice |date=15 December 2012 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/willingness-to-pay-and-policy-instrument-choice/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2012willingnesstopay, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Willingness-to-Pay and Policy Instrument Choice}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2012}, month = dec, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/willingness-to-pay-and-policy-instrument-choice/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }