Intergenerational Transmission of Environmental Values: How Parental Attitudes Influence Willingness to Pay for Forest Conservation

This study examines the intergenerational transmission of environmental values by investigating how parental environmental attitudes during childhood influence individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) for forest conservation policies in adulthood. Despite extensive research on determinants of environmental attitudes and conservation support, the long-term impact of parental environmental influence on economic valuation of conservation efforts remains understudied. Using a double-bounded dichotomous choice design, we surveyed 337 Korean adults, assessing both their current environmental attitudes and recalled parental environmental behaviors during their youth. Principal component analysis was employed to create composite indicators of individual and parental environmental attitudes. Results demonstrate that individuals exposed to stronger pro-environmental parental attitudes during youth place significantly higher economic value on forest conservation in adulthood. The effect of individual environmental attitudes on WTP is stronger for respondents who reported higher levels of parental environmental concern, with an estimated mean WTP of 167.23 KRW per household for those with above-average parental environmental attitudes compared to those with below-average scores. Bivariate probit model analysis reveals that gender, age, and education level also significantly influence conservation WTP. These findings contribute to our understanding of intergenerational environmental value transmission and have important implications for designing effective long-term conservation policies, suggesting that environmental education targeting parents may foster sustained public support for forest conservation across generations.