Does being intergenerationally accountable resolve intergenerational sustainability dilemma?

Abstract

We address whether being intergenerationally accountable (IA) is effective at maintaining intergenerational sustainability (IS) through conducting lab-in-the-field experiments of IS dilemma games. In baseline, a sequence of six generations, each composed of three members, is organized, and each generation chooses whether to maintain IS (sustainable option) or to maximize their payoff by imposing costs on future generations (unsustainable option) via deliberation. In IA, each generation is additionally asked to provide reasons and advice to subsequent generations along with the decision. Results indicate that IA induces generations to choose the sustainable option with positive reasons and advice, enhancing IS.