Topic: Mass Media, Information and Demand for Environmental Quality: Evidence from “Under the Dome”

Speaker: Zijun Liu (Assistant Professor), Sam Houston State University

Site：A204

Time：14:30 P.M. , June 7(Thursday)，2018

Abstract：

This research estimates the effect of mass media on the public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for better environmental quality. The analysis exploits the exogenous shock of the environmental documentary “Under the Dome” with a regression discontinuity design using its unexpected release as the assignment, and the number of days away from the release date as the running variable. Using one-year survey dada in Nanjing China, the analysis shows that “Under the Dome” significantly increased people WTP for environmental quality by 21.6%, which represent CNY 1097 per capita increment for WTP in average. Further analysis suggests that mass media affects WTP by increasing the public’s awareness of environmental pollution and risk perception. Our results also found the effect of documentary would exist within long-term.