Mental accounting shapes public support for green spending of carbon tax revenues

Despite its potential for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, carbon taxation encounters strong public resistance in many countries. However, social acceptability of carbon taxation heavily depends on how the generated revenues are used. Citizens prefer carbon taxation schemes where tax revenues are earmarked for environmental protection rather than for non-environmental purposes (e.g., lowering the value-added tax or labour taxes). Here, we test the hypothesis that acceptability varies across earmarking domains according to a mental accounting heuristic, by which people create mental budgets where the origin of revenues is matched thematically with their domain of use. Across two experiments conducted in the United Kingdom and in France (Ntotal = 3500), we show that citizens display a specific preference for tax designs where the earmarking domain is matched with the revenue source (i.e. a carbon tax earmarked for environmental protection), relative to an unmatched tax scheme. Moreover, we find that acceptability of carbon taxation increases with the proportion of tax revenues earmarked for environmental protection.

Social Responses to a Changing Environment

Communities worldwide are facing environmental crises such as air pollution, water shortages, climate change, and other forms of environmental change and degradation. While technical solutions for environmental change are essential, so too are solutions that consider social acceptability, value cultural relevance, and prioritize equity and social justice. Social work has a critical and urgent role in creating and implementing macrolevel social responses to environmental change. The key concepts of environmental change, environmental and ecological justice, social vulnerability, and social responses are discussed. A description of the roles and skills unique to macro social workers for this effort is given, followed by examples of macrolevel strategies and interventions. Opportunities and directions for future social work responses to a changing environment are identified.

Making sense of sewage sludge as a renewable resource in the urban U.S.

Prior to industrialization, human excrement was commonly employed as a resource for agricultural fertilization. Following the advent of the hydraulic sanitation system, however, it became increasingly channeled into waterways rather than reincorporated into terrestrial agro-ecosystems. To counter this trend, more and more industrial cities are seeking to utilize treated sanitation waste, or “biosolids,” as a renewable resource that can be applied as a soil amendment in urban recreational settings, including parks, gardens, and golf courses. This article examines how the use of biosolids in the American city of Chicago comes to “make sense”—experientially, economically, and ecologically—to users and wastewater experts. Furthermore, it considers how sanitation infrastructures, social norms, and safety concerns both contour and constrain such usage. Ultimately, this article identifies how direct sensorial experiences (particularly of odors or their absence) as well as notions of economic and ecological “good sense” contribute to the social acceptability of biosolids usage. However, contaminants of emerging concern that are barely perceptible in sanitation waste raise more profound questions about the challenges of urban sustainability in this period known as late industrialism.

Approach to verification of psychometric test results by integrating the methods of tempometry and video-oculography

One of the function of psychometrics is to assess hidden properties in persons as trasmitters of meanings to predict their behaviour under certain specific situational conditions with reference to the measured parameters. When the survey participants recourse to deliberate distortion of their answers in order to increase social acceptability thereof, then there is a great probability that the evaluation and predictions of their behavior will not be relevant. the answer-response processing algorithms envisioned in standardized tests are often ineffective when it comes to detection of intentional distortion; and this in fact is the problem that requires resolution. An approach to solve this problem is proposed. A tool suitable for implementation of the proposed approach is described. the results obtained by means of using the toolkit Video Tsvetomer are illustrated.

Prioritization of the Target Population for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccination Program in Thailand

Thailand was hit by the second wave of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a densely migrant-populated province (Samut Sakhon). COVID-19 vaccines were known to be effective; however, the supply was limited. Therefore, this study aimed to predict the effectiveness of Thailand’s COVID-19 vaccination strategy. We obtained most of the data from the Ministry of Public Health. Deterministic system dynamics and compartmental models were utilized. The reproduction number (R) between Thais and migrants was estimated at 1.25 and 2.5, respectively. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) to prevent infection was assumed at 50%. In Samut Sakhon, there were 500,000 resident Thais and 360,000 resident migrants. The contribution of migrants to the province’s gross domestic product was estimated at 20%. Different policy scenarios were analyzed. The migrant-centric vaccination policy scenario received the lowest incremental cost per one case or one death averted compared with the other scenarios. The Thai-centric policy scenario yielded an incremental cost of 27,191 Baht per one life saved, while the migrant-centric policy scenario produced a comparable incremental cost of 3782 Baht. Sensitivity analysis also demonstrated that the migrant-centric scenario presented the most cost-effective outcome even when VE diminished to 20%. A migrant-centric policy yielded the smallest volume of cumulative infections and deaths and was the most cost-effective scenario, independent of R and VE values. Further studies should address political feasibility and social acceptability of migrant vaccine prioritization.