Asian Disease Problem Applied to Climate Change: A Study of the Impact of Framing Risk Preferences Driven by Socio-Economic Indicators for Climate-Change-Related Risks

Ted C. Peterson () and Kacey Tollefson
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Ted C. Peterson: Department of Operations and Information Systems, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, 201 Presidents’ Cir, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
Kacey Tollefson: Department of Operations and Information Systems, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, 201 Presidents’ Cir, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA

Businesses, 2023, vol. 3, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: The Asian disease problem has long been studied since first introduced by Tversky and Kahneman in 1981. This study explores the mechanics of the Asian disease problem to a scenario reflecting deaths attributed to climate change. The study examines the gain/loss frame setup of the Asian disease problem. To research the Asian disease problem, in partnership with a Qualtrics panel, we surveyed 1209 customers of Utah utilities. Through statistical tests on the survey data, we confirmed the existence of the gain/loss framing effect. Moreover, the framing effect held when separating and examining responses based on unique socio-economic characteristics (i.e., age, gender, race, marital status, income, educational attainment, political preference, living status, household size, years at current residence, and energy-saving preference). In short, like the original Asian disease problem, the framing impact varied regardless of the characteristic studied. Based on these findings, we recommend implementing the framing effects of the Asian disease problem to an expanded realm for energy- and climate-related programs, initiatives, and academic research. We believe that this framing could spur action to mitigate climate change. Moreover, we recommend an expanded empirical study of the Asian disease problem to novel and understudied realms beyond our focus area.

Keywords: socio-economic factors and risk tolerance; prospect theory; prospect theory and climate change; Asian disease problem; risk tolerance; energy economics; framing impacts; climate change mitigation; Utah energy study; climate change; energy policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A1 D0 D4 D6 D7 D8 D9 E0 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 F0 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 G0 G1 G2 H0 J0 K2 L0 L1 L2 M0 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 N0 N1 N2 O0 O1 P0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jbusin:v:3:y:2023:i:1:p:12-180:d:1059213

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