Harms and benefits in environmental equality

Five studies involving more than 2,800 people find that, when considering issues related to environmental equality, people express weaker preferences for equality when allocating environmental harms than when allocating environmental benefits; the results suggest that stakeholders interested in equating environmental conditions across communities should present solutions in terms of potential benefits rather than harms, according to the authors.

Article #19-11116: “Inconsistent allocations of harms versus benefits may exacerbate environmental inequality,” by Tamar Makov, George E. Newman, and Gal Zauberman.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Tamar Makov, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, ISRAEL; e-mail:

[email protected]

; Gal Zauberman, Yale University, New Haven CT; e-mail:

[email protected]

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