Both theory on motivational crowding and recent empirical evidence suggest that nudging may sometimes backfire and actually crowd out prosocial behavior, due to decreased intrinsic motivation and warm glow. In this study, we tested this claim by investigating the effects of three types of nudges (default nudge, social norm nudge, and moral nudge) on donations to charity in a preregistered online experiment (N = 1098). Furthermore, we manipulated the transparency of the nudges across conditions by explicitly informing subjects of the nudges that were used. Our results show no indication that nudges crowd out prosocial behavior; instead, all three nudges increased donations. The positive effects of the nudges were driven by the subjects who did not perceive the nudges as attempts to manipulate their behavior, while donations among subjects who felt that the nudges were manipulative remained unaffected. Subjects’ self-reported happiness with their choice also remained unaffected. Thus, we find no indication that nudges crowded out warm glow when acting altruistically. Generally, our results are good news for the proponents of nudges in public policy, since they suggest that concerns about unintended motivational crowding effects on prosocial behavior have been overstated.

The renewable energy transformation will impact the entire economy. We investigate the impact and interlinkages in employment and non-renewable energy with the renewable energy transition in Europe. We further assess the potential contributions of renewable energy and non-renewable energy to the variability (changes) of future employment, output, and carbon emissions within the European Union (EU). Analyzing recent data from 28 EU countries and Norway, we employ a panel vector autoregressive regression model to estimate the potential interlinkages. Our results suggest that the transition to renewable energy sources has a positive but small and significant net impact on average employment in EU. We further find that renewable energy consumption contributes substantially to the future changes in employment in the short and the medium term. The potential effect of employment on non-renewable fossil-fuel-based energy consumption is relatively lower. Moreover, future renewable energy consumption contributes significantly to variations in non-renewable energy, per capita carbon emissions and GDP per capita in the short and the medium-term. The contribution of non-renewable energy to the future variability in renewable energy consumption is low, reflecting the diminishing impact of fossil-fuel-based energy on renewable energy consumption.

Nudges are interventions based on behavioral insights and have received a great deal of attention in recent years. This dissertation investigates how nudges may affect prosocial preferences and behavior through their intended effects, but also their unintended consequences. Essay 1 is a theoretical treatment of how nudges may affect preferences and behavior, while Essays 2 and 3 employ experimental approaches investigating the same themes. The final essay of this thesis investigates the impact of the renewable energy transition in Europe (and Eastern Europe) on employment employing the Eurostat energy database.

Nudges är interventioner grundade i beteendeinsikter och har fått stor uppmärksamhet de senaste åren. Denna avhandling behandlar hur nudges kan påverka prosociala preferenser och beteenden genom deras avsiktliga effekter, men också deras oavsiktliga konsekvenser. Artikel ett är en teoretisk modell över hur nudges kan påverka preferenser och beteenden, medan artikel två och tre bygger på labboratorie- och onlinebaserade experiment och undersöker liknande teman. Avhandlingens sista artikel undersöker hur sysselsättningsgraden i EU och Östeuropa påverkas av övergången från icke-förnyelsebar till förnyelsebar energi.