Postdoc at London School of Economics

Ph.D. from Advanced School of Economics at the University of Venice "Ca' Foscari"

Feem Junior Researcher, Coalitions & Networks for International Environmental Agreements

ZEW Fellow in Environmental and Resource Economics

a.tavoni@lse.ac.uk , skype

“Inequality, communication and the avoidance of disastrous climate change in a public goods game", with A. Dannenberg, G. Kallis z; and A. Loeschel.

International efforts to provide global public goods often face the challenges of coordinating
national contributions and distributing costs equitably in the face of uncertainty, inequality, and
free-riding incentives. In an experimental setting, we distribute endowments unequally among a
group of people who can reach a fixed target sum through successive money contributions, knowing
that if they fail they will lose all their remaining money with 50% probability. In some treatments
we give players the option to communicate intended contributions. We find that inequality reduces
the prospects of reaching the target, but that communication increases success dramatically. Successful
groups tend to eliminate inequality over the course of the game, with rich players signaling
willingness to redistribute early on. Our results suggest that coordination-promoting institutions
and early redistribution from richer to poorer nations are both decisive for the avoidance of global
calamities such as disruptive climate change.

"When fairness bends rationality: incorporating inequity aversion in models of regretful and noisy behavior"

Presented at CTN, Maastricht (2009)

"The survival of the conformist: equity-driven ostracism and renewable resource management", with M.Schlute and S.A.Levin