Raisa Sherif
Bio.
I am a Senior Scientist at the Department of Public Economics at the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance in Munich. I completed my PhD from the University of Munich and an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology - Madras. I am also an invited researcher at J-PAL.
My research focuses on understanding pro-environmental behaviours and the effectiveness of policy interventions targeted at them. I study these topics using insights from behavioural economics and combining experimental methods like field, lab-in-the-field, and online survey experiments.
- Environmental Economics
- Behavioural Economics
- Development
PhD in Economics, 2021
Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Munich Graduate School of Economics
Integrated Masters in Economics, 2014
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Research
Publications
Impact, inspiration, or image: On the trade-offs in pro-environmental behaviors with Sven Simon
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2025
Abstract
Today's environmental challenges prompt individuals to take personal actions, though motivations vary. This paper presents causal evidence of a trade-off between two motivations behind pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs): maximizing environmental impact or being seen as green. In an experiment on voluntary carbon offsetting, we first isolate each motivation and quantify their impact. We then investigate whether individuals deliberately trade-off impact for the visibility of their actions, and why they do so. Our results show that while individuals respond to salient differences in efficiency and visibility, visible PEBs crowd out efficient alternatives, indicating a preference for being seen as green over actual environmental impact. We disentangle two motivations driving this preference for visible actions: social image concerns and role model aspirations. Role model aspirations exert a stronger influence, leading individuals to choose visible PEBs over efficient ones more frequently.Shaping Minds: The Transformative Effects of Theatre-Based Learning
with Ritam Chaurey, Sara Constantino, Shantanu Khanna, Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay and Nishith Prakash
Conditionally accepted via pre-results review, Journal of Development Economics, 2025
Abstract
Despite progress in addressing barriers to human capital in the last two decades, significant learning gaps persist. A new line of research suggests that holistic skills are associated with positive impacts on later life outcomes. However, there is little evidence supporting the effectiveness of existing traditional classroom-based instructional strategies in improving non-cognitive and socio-emotional skills. In this study, we conduct a randomized control trial in 96 schools in Uttarakhand, India to estimate the causal impacts of an experiential learning pedagogy in secondary schools. The curriculum consists of a total of 15 hours of arts and theater-based instruction delivered over 10 sessions during a six month period. We measure the impacts on range of socio-emotional skills, cognitive abilities, and learning outcomes.Sanctioning, selection, and pivotality in voting: theory and experimental results with Kai Konrad
Constitutional Political Economy, 2019
Abstract
Can elected officeholders use their power to extract rents for themselves, or can their accountable behavior be ensured by a threat of future elections? It has been argued that such a threat may fail, particularly if voters are forward looking and elections serve a selection purpose. We consider the accountability problem in elections with selection concerns and multiple voters. When there are multiple voters, pivotality considerations may support equilibria where incumbents behave accountably even with a selection incentive in their favor. In an accompanying laboratory experiment we find that there is heterogeneity among incumbents in terms of their accountability—some incumbents extract much, others do not. Voters are always more likely to re-elect the incumbent if there is a higher future benefit to the voters from her re-election, but less so if they extract rents. An interesting equilibrium is when the incumbent creates a majority group of voters and treats them favorably, with this favored majority voting for her. Here voters’ beliefs about their pivot probabilities are tied to whether they are in this majority group or not.Working Papers
Are pro-environment behaviours substitutes or complements? Evidence from the field, Working Paper of the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance No. 2021-03
(Submitted)
Abstract
This paper uses a field experiment among adolescents in India to study how an intervention to increase one pro-environment activity (namely, recycling single-use plastic carry bags), spills over to other pro-environment activities. The paper shows using lab and field experiments combined with survey data that (i) providing information on the need to recycle does not change recycling levels, whereas (ii) providing incentives along with the information, leads to higher recycling. There is a positive spillover from the incentive treatment to other pro-environment activities. This positive spillover is observed among subjects who respond to the incentives and increase recycling. Notably, the positive spillover is also observed among those in this treatment who do not respond to the incentives and do not change recycling behaviour. This suggests complementarities among pro-environment behaviours and that interventions may have unaccounted positive effects on non-target environment behaviours.Sorting it out: Waste Management in Urban India, IZA Discussion Paper No. 17508
with Ahana Basistha, Nishith Prakash
(Submitted)
Abstract
Urban waste management challenges pose significant health and economic consequences. Although source-level waste segregation offers a promising solution, its success depends on household participation. Through a randomized controlled trial in the capital city of Bihar, India, we evaluate how light-touch messaging interventions influence household waste management practices. Our results reveal a stark behavioral disconnect: while interventions increased financial contributions to waste segregation initiatives by 9.6 - 11.7 per cent compared to the control group, they failed to improve actual waste segregation practices. This gap between financial support and behavioral change highlights the complexity of promoting sustainable waste management practices in urban households.Intergenerational Transmission of Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors, AEA RCT Registry
with Shubhro Bhattacharya, Sara Constantino, Nirajana Mishra, Nishith Prakash, Shwetlena Sabarwal and Dighbijoy Samaddar
Abstract
This study examines the effect of educational interventions on improving pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours within family units in Patna, Bihar. We implement a Randomized Controlled Trial across 4,000 households to analyze the ``spillover'' effects between children and their parents. We employ four treatment arms: Student-Only, Parent-Only, Combined Student and Parent, and a Control Group, to evaluate the impact of a custom-designed pro-environmental curriculum on both direct recipients and their household counterparts.Do perceptions match pollution levels? Evidence from three Indian cities Pre-registration
with Matthew H. Goldberg and A. R. Shariq Mohammed
Abstract
We study how misperceptions of local air quality shape individual behavior and policy preferences in urban India. Using a pre-registered, online survey experiment with 2,117 respondents across three major cities, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata, we elicit subjective beliefs about local air quality and randomly provide a subset of participants with accurate Air Quality Index (AQI) data for their city. Participants then allocate real money between themselves and a tree-planting initiative and report support for various environmental policies. We document widespread, systematically biased misperceptions, with individuals in highly polluted cities often underestimating pollution risks. These misperceptions are correlated with lower environmental concern, lower policy support, and weaker climate beliefs. However, providing corrective information does not significantly shift either pro-environmental contributions or stated policy preferences. The only exception occurs among women, who exhibit increased support for environmental policies following treatment. Our findings highlight the limits of informational interventions in contexts of chronic pollution and suggest that misperceptions may reflect deeper patterns of disengagement from environmental issues.In progress
Personal Initiative Skills, Gender Gaps, and Social Norms: Experimental Evidence from Rural India AEA RCT Registry
with Sofia Amaral, Isis Gaddis, Shirleen Manzur, Alreena Pinto and Jayati Sethi
Abstract
This paper studies whether strengthening entrepreneurial soft skills improves firm outcomes and shifts intra-household dynamics and social norms among rural entrepreneurs in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. We implement a gender-stratified randomized controlled trial with 2,558 entrepreneurs, evaluating a Personal Initiative (PI) training program. The intervention aims to enhance non-cognitive skills such as grit, planning, and communication. We pre-specify outcomes spanning business practices, profitability, credit access, intra-household decision-making, and gender norms. To explore mechanisms, we develop a novel social norms survey and conduct a couples’ behavioral game to measure spousal bargaining. Our design allows us to test whether improvements in personal initiative affect not just firm outcomes, but also the social and household constraints that limit women’s entrepreneurship.Socio-Emotional Skills and Climate Education: A Randomized Evaluation of Air Quality Curriculum in Indian Schools AEA RCT Registry
with Ashutosh Bhuradia
Abstract
Climate education may shape pro-environmental preferences and behaviors where children face high exposure to climate risks but few means to adapt. We test an arts-based curriculum that integrates social-emotional learning with climate education through poetry, theatre, and storytelling in a randomized trial across 110 classrooms in low-income Indian schools. The curriculum centers on air pollution as a locally salient issue and aims to make climate change personally relevant while fostering collective engagement. We estimate effects on knowledge, attitudes, individual protective actions, classroom-level public-good contributions, prosocial donations, and information-seeking about air quality, providing experimental evidence on how school-based interventions can influence environmental behavior in developing-country settings.Information campaigns, environment norms, and behaviour: Evidence from the field Pre-registration
Abstract
Information campaigns that aim to encourage pro-environment activities are a widely popular policy instrument. In addition to closing the information gap related to target behaviours, such interventions can potentially change the beliefs that individuals hold about the appropriateness of these behaviours. This is particularly likely in the context of environment behaviours because of the normative nature of interventions, where a ‘correct’ behaviour is often encouraged. We look at whether individuals respond to information campaigns in the environmental domain because of their informational value or because they expect the campaign to change the social norm around these behaviours, and want to adhere to these new norms. We aim to separately identify these two channels through a field experiment.Wins and losses in collective actions AEA RCT Registry
with Biljana Meiske
Abstract
Global warming, deforestation, destruction of wildlife, etc., all represent problems which require coordination on a global level to be successfully resolved. At the same time, they also have their representation on a smaller scale (e.g. on a local level). We study, using a field experiment, whether the experience of participation in a small-scale collective action affects the willingness to contribute in a related but larger collective action. Particularly, we are interested in the motivational and demotivational effects of having achieved a "small win" or having failed to do so, on scaling-up the collective effort, and the relative magnitude of these effects. Furthermore, we investigate whether success (failure) in the smaller scale collective action has heterogeneous effects on participants with different initial propensity to contribute.Teaching
Behavioural Environmental Economics
Bachelor Seminar, Summer Semester 2024, Winter Semester 2023-24, University of Munich, Germany
International Public Economics
Masters and PhD level, Winter Semester 2017, University of Munich, Germany
Student evaluation score 4.8/5. Detailed evaluation can be found here
Workshop
Workshop on Pro-Environmental Behavior: Drivers and Consequences
March 6-7, 2025
Harnack House, Berlin
Program Committee
- Kai A. Konrad
- Raisa Sherif
- Sven A. Simon
About the Workshop
This workshop brings together researchers to discuss the latest advances in understanding pro-environmental behavior, including its drivers, consequences, and policy implications.
Key Topics
- Motivations behind pro-environmental behaviors
- Energy conservation and household decisions
- Climate change attitudes and beliefs
- Intergenerational transmission of environmental values
- Policy interventions and behavioral change
Service
Mentoring
Please check out the Lindau Mentoring Hub, a digital platform that connects mentors and mentees in science and academia, from across the world. You can sign up here.
The platform is developed in collaboration with the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings and is generously funded by the Dieter Schwarz Foundation.
Equal Opportunities
As the elected equal opportunities officer for the MPI for Tax Law and Public Finance, I spend some of my time advocating for and handling issues of inclusivity in science and academia. If you would like to get in touch, please write to raisa.sherif@tax.mpg.de.
Contact
Email: raisa.sherif@tax.mpg.de
Address: Marstallplatz 8, 80539 Munich, Germany