Publication type
Journal Article
Authors
Publication date
September 5, 2026
Summary:
The double dividend hypothesis suggests that acting in more pro-environmental ways will not only benefit the environment but also carries a subjective well-being premium for those who do so, hence paying off doubly. We test the well-being payoff part of this hypothesis using a two-way fixed effects estimator with high-quality panel data for the United Kingdom during the period 2009 to 2019. Examining the link between pro-environmental behavior and subjective well-being (measured as life satisfaction), we find no evidence for even a small relationship between the two, despite a large sample size. In addition, we examine a precondition for the double dividend narrative, namely the relationship between rising incomes and pro-environmental behavior. Here we find that, in the United Kingdom, increasing incomes translate into slightly less pro-environmental behavior for the period in question. Both findings cast some doubt on the practicability of a double dividend narrative: improving material conditions may lead to a deterioration in pro-environmental behaviors, but even if one could transition to more pro-environmental behaviors, a double dividend may not materialize.
Published in
Journal of Wellbeing Economics
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/29782244261477352
ISSN
29782244
Subjects
Notes
© The Author(s) 2026.
Online Early
Free Access
Code: Replication materials are available at: https://osf.io/tvdgz/. The data are freely available for researchers at: https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/
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