The Influence of Environmental Concerns & Market Competition on Innovation - Prof. Ralf Martin (ICL)

This podcast episode explores Professor Ralph Martin's working paper on environmental preferences and technological choices. The episode discusses the traditional economic view of climate change as a prisoner's dilemma and argues that it is incomplete. It introduces the concept of prosocial preferences, where people act in a clean way even without government regulations. The episode also explores a new model that analyzes the impact of competition and consumer preferences on green innovation, highlighting both the advantages and risks of this model. The speakers emphasize the need for governments and economists to focus on understanding and influencing people's preferences through education or information to transition to a cleaner economy.