An Experimental Study for Environmental Fundraising in Majorca, Spain
Experiments on Energy, the Environment, and Sustainability
ISBN: 978-0-85724-747-6, eISBN: 978-0-85724-748-3
Publication date: 2 May 2011
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter tests the effectiveness of different institutions to fundraise for environmental projects at tourism destinations.
Methodology – We conduct a series of experiments with tourists visiting the Island of Majorca, Spain, and test the fundraising capacity of a voluntary donation scheme, two tax levels, and a matching instrument. In the first treatment of our experiment, tourists have the opportunity to make a voluntary donation to a local environmental organization involved in environmental projects. In a high-tax and low-tax treatment, tourists are taxed some proportion of their initial endowment and then are allowed to make voluntary contributions from their remaining endowment. In a final treatment, the experimenters match, one-for-one, any voluntary donations.
Findings – We test the crowding-out hypothesis of taxes over voluntary environmental donations and find imperfect crowding-out (from 60% to 65% for different tax levels).We also explore potential crowding-in of matching instruments (widely used in nontourism settings for fundraising campaigns), but do not find any support for it.
Practical Implications – Our results support the conclusion that it would be reasonable to use voluntary donation programs and tourism taxes complementarily (instead of independently), to increase fundraising for environmental purposes at tourism destinations.
Citation
Claudia Lopez, M., Blanco, E. and Coleman, E.A. (2011), "An Experimental Study for Environmental Fundraising in Majorca, Spain", Isaac, R.M. and Norton, D.A. (Ed.) Experiments on Energy, the Environment, and Sustainability (Research in Experimental Economics, Vol. 14), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 181-211. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0193-2306(2011)0000014009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited