Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
This paper experimentally explores the link between poverty and decisions that lead environmental degradation. In the experiment, individuals with different wealth levels play a game that describes environmental degradation as a contribution to an activity that generates a negative externality. The experimental data show that wealth levels not related to the environment (exogenous poverty) play no significant role in environmental decisions. However, the variation in wealth as a consequence of the contribution to environmental degradation (endogenous poverty) affects the behavior of individuals, that enter a spiral of poverty and environmental degradation. These results suggest the existence of a poverty-environment trap.