UC San Diego

This dissertation consists of three chapters, linked by the theme of analyzing household behavioral responses to environmental policies. Chapter 1 investigates the behavioral response of households receiving a composting program expansion, in particular when they can throw food scraps into their compost, and analyzes the effect on methane emissions reductions. Chapter 2 investigates the effect of carbon cap and trade permit and low-carbon fuel standard credit prices on consumer gasoline purchases, and compares the effect size to gasoline taxes and gasoline price increases unrelated to either policy. Chapter 3 investigates the heterogeneity in responses to water quality violations by examining how different demographic groups respond to these violations.