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Imaginary future generations: A deliberative approach for intergenerational sustainability dilemma

Author

Listed:
  • Raja Rajendra Timilsina

    (School of Economics and Management, Kochi University of Technology)

  • Yoshinori Nakagawa

    (School of Economics and Management, Kochi University of Technology)

  • Yoshio Komijo

    (Waseda University)

  • Koji Kotani

    (School of Economics and Management, Kochi University of Technology)

  • Tatsuyoshi Saijo

    (School of Economics and Management, Kochi University of Technology)

Abstract
The current generation affects future generations, but the opposite is not true. This one-way nature of the dependence of generations is the leading cause of many intergenerational problems, such as climate change. These problems are characterized by the fact that the current generation tends to choose actions to their benefit without considering future generations, which we call the intergenerational sustainability dilemma (ISD). This paper designs and implements deliberation experiments representing ISD with a single generation of three people and examines how the dilemma can be solved. Imaginary future generations (IFG) is suggested as a treatment in which one person in the current generation is asked to be a representative from the future without any obligations. We analyze the recorded deliberation of generation decisions. We find that intergenerational sustainability is enhanced through deliberations when one generational member emerges naturally as a neutral icebreaker to deliberate (neutral icebreaker is defined as a person who voluntarily opens and activates the deliberation from a neutral standpoint) and/or IFG is present in a generation. Specifically, we demonstrate that when an icebreaker and/or IFG is present during deliberation, generation brings a wider variety of ideas and viewpoints about the ISD, leading to intergenerational sustainability. This research illustrates how a deliberative analysis can be usefully combined with economic experiments as a methodology to reveal human behaviors and preferences for intergenerational decision making.

Suggested Citation

  • Raja Rajendra Timilsina & Yoshinori Nakagawa & Yoshio Komijo & Koji Kotani & Tatsuyoshi Saijo, 2021. "Imaginary future generations: A deliberative approach for intergenerational sustainability dilemma," Working Papers SDES-2021-12, Kochi University of Technology, School of Economics and Management, revised Nov 2021.
    • Handle: RePEc:kch:wpaper:sdes-2021-12
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    File URL: http://www.souken.kochi-tech.ac.jp/seido/wp/SDES-2021-12.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    Intergenerational sustainability; Imaginary future generations; deliberation; economic experiments;
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