Shefrin, Hersh, 1948-

The behavioral economics and politics of global warming : unsettling behaviors / Hersh Shefrin. - 1 online resource (102 pages) : digital, PDF file(s). - Cambridge elements. Elements in quantitative finance, 2631-8571 . - Cambridge elements. Elements in quantitative finance, .

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 19 Oct 2023).

Open Access.

The main goal of this Element is to provide a psychological explanation for why actual global climate policy is so much at odds with the prescriptions of most neoclassical economists. To be sure, the behavioral approach does focus on why neoclassical models are often psychologically unrealistic. However, in this Element the author argues that the unrealistic elements are minor compared to the psychological pitfalls driving politically determined climate policy. Why this is the case is what the author describes as 'the big behavioral question.' More precisely, the big behavioral question asks why there is a huge gap between actual policy and even the weakest of the prescriptions in the range of plausible prescriptions coming from neoclassical economists' integrated assessment models. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

9781009454919 (ebook)


Economics--Psychological aspects.
Global warming--Economic aspects.
Global warming--Political aspects.

HB74.P8 / S44 2023

330.019