This project examined how small and medium-sized enterprises can be encouraged to make more sustainable business decisions. Through field and laboratory experiments and in close cooperation with practice partners, it evaluated behavioural interventions designed to promote more efficient use of natural resources and provided insights into the implementation of pro-environmental practices within firms.
Production and operational decisions within firms are major determinants of natural resource use in Switzerland, as in most economies. Understanding how companies can be encouraged to use resources more efficiently is therefore essential for making the Swiss economy more sustainable.
This project developed and evaluated novel behavioural interventions, or “nudges”, designed to promote more sustainable business decisions. It focused on small and medium-sized enterprises, an economically important group for which such interventions may be particularly valuable. Field and laboratory experiments, designed and conducted in close collaboration with several practice partners, provided systematic evidence on the effectiveness of the interventions and illustrated how pro-environmental business practices can be implemented successfully.
Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals
- The hidden benefits of CSR: Corporate philanthropy begets giving of employees, Grieder, M., Kistler, D., & Schmitz, J., Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 103225, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103225
- How sludge impairs the effectiveness of policy programs: a field experiment with SMEs, Grieder, M., Kistler, D., & Schmitz, J., Behavioural Public Policy, 9(4), 865-873, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2024.44
Book Chapters
- Environmental decision making in small companies: A behavioral economics perspective, Grieder, M., Kistler, D., & Schmitz, J., Sustainability and Environmental Decision Making, pp. 129-151, Springer Singapore, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9287-4_13
Preprints (Working Papers)
- Not only for the money: nudging SMEs to promote environmental sustainability, Grieder, M., Kistler, D., Schlüter, F., & Schmitz, J., Available at SSRN 4351587, 2024, https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4351587
Policy Briefs
- Nudging SMEs towards more sustainability, Grieder, M., Kistler, D., Schmitz, J., & Schlüter, F., NRP 73 Policy Brief Nr. 11 / 2023, https://nfp73.ch/download/98/231018_SNF_NFP73_PB_Schmitz_02_EN.pdf?inline=true
- Policy Brief: Nudging SMEs towards more sustainability How sludge impairs the effectiveness of policy programmes: A field experiment with SMEs, Grieder, M., Kistler, D., & Schmitz, J., NRP 73 Policy Brief Nr. 10 / 2023, https://nfp73.ch/download/77/230511_SNF_NFP73_PB_Schmitz_EN.pdf?inline=true
