with Pascal Sulser & Urs Fischbacher
We run a field experiment on littering in public parking garages
- On the Swiss side of the border, there is less littering than on the German side. However, this is neither because Swiss people litter less than Germans, nor because of German parking garages being dirtier ex ante. Controlling for location, Germans litter weakly less (!) than Swiss people. People adapt, and Germans even over-adapt (in this case, being afraid of higher fines).
- Generally, our results strongly suggest that littering follows expectations. Germans living in Switzerland adapt the most („overshooting“ on both sides of the border), and they also see the largest differences. Overall, the data are consistent with a simple model of social norms, so that we conclude that littering is more about social norms than personal values
