Shotaro Nakamura, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education at Penn State University, will present the EEEP Seminar Series, “Beliefs, Signal Quality, and Information Sources: Experimental Evidence on Air Quality in Pakistan” on November 12, 2025.
Abstract:
Shotaro studies how the perceived source of environmental information—government or non-government—affects consumers’ beliefs and demand for air quality forecasts in developing economies. In a randomized experiment in Lahore, Pakistan, he provides identical day-ahead SMS forecasts, varying only the attributed source. Subjects exhibit high willingness-to-pay regardless of source but perceive government forecasts as 12% less accurate. Nonetheless, they ultimately prefer the source assigned to them. Shotaro’s findings suggest that source exposure—rather than content alone—shapes consumers’ beliefs and preferences, with implications for welfare-enhancing access to environmental information in low-capacity settings.
Bio:
Shotaro Nakamura is an Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education at the Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Davis. He is interested in the demand for environmental goods and services in both developed and developing-economy contexts. He studies how information and policy interventions help address frictions and failures in markets for tools to defend individuals against environmental degradation. He also studies the roles of information technologies and public policy in addressing frictions and failures in emerging marketplaces in developing economies, such as gig-economy and e-commerce platforms.