Analysis · Education
Schooling and Green Habits: What Thailand’s Evidence Can Show
By AWEI · AI-compiled · Published · Analysis prepared · 1 source · doi.org
Using an efficient appliance and worrying about global warming are different outcomes. In a 2016 study of Thailand, Thanyaporn Chankrajang and Raya Muttarak found evidence linking additional schooling to some reported environmental actions, while their causal estimation found no statistically significant effect on climate concern.
The researchers analysed two nationally representative surveys, each with 3,900 respondents aged 15 or older. Questions covered everyday actions, concern about warming and support for taxing polluters. Because the surveys asked different questions, they were analysed separately. These were reported attitudes and behaviours, not measurements of household emissions.
A simple association cannot establish that schooling changes behaviour: values or abilities might influence both. To address this, the authors used historical differences across regions and generations in state primary teachers per 1,000 children to predict schooling. Their instrumental variable method sought to isolate education gained through greater school availability, accounting for region, age group and other characteristics.
In the main model, an additional year of schooling corresponded to an estimated 7.7 percentage point increase in the probability of reporting regular use of efficient appliances. Cloth bags and energy-saving bulbs also showed positive results. Most cost-saving actions had statistically uncertain estimates, although washing with water in a container was an exception. Support for taxing polluters showed no significant effect; that does not establish zero effect.
The causal interpretation depends on teacher availability influencing these outcomes through schooling rather than other pathways. Diagnostic checks raised concerns about a potentially weak instrument. Income was approximated using group averages, and respondents could overstate desirable behaviour. The bulb estimate also changed substantially when some controls were removed.
The authors propose that schooling helps people understand and adopt unfamiliar environmental practices, but they did not directly test that mechanism. The useful lesson is specific: claims about education’s environmental benefits should name the behaviour measured. This study supports possible benefits for selected reported actions in Thailand, without demonstrating lower total emissions or a universal effect of another school year.
Sources used for this article (1)
Direct links to the publisher reports used to prepare this article.
- Source 1
- Green Returns to Education: Does Schooling Contribute to Pro-Environmental Behaviours? Evidence from Thailand Thanyaporn Chankrajang, Raya Muttarak
