Perceptions of fundamental science: Evidence from a classroom experiment
Large-scale research infrastructures such as particle colliders, radio telescopes, the International Space Station, are often funded through general taxation and taxpayers are called to contribute to scientific discovery. How much are people actually willing to pay for investments in science? What d...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020-01-01
|
| Series: | Social Sciences and Humanities Open |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291120300802 |
| _version_ | 1818575330021998592 |
|---|---|
| author | Francesco Giffoni Massimo Florio |
| author_facet | Francesco Giffoni Massimo Florio |
| author_sort | Francesco Giffoni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Large-scale research infrastructures such as particle colliders, radio telescopes, the International Space Station, are often funded through general taxation and taxpayers are called to contribute to scientific discovery. How much are people actually willing to pay for investments in science? What does drive such a giving behaviour? This paper explores the attitudes of young science-outsiders (the taxpayers of tomorrow) by a pilot experiment involving 230 undergraduate students in economics at University of Milan. The experiment takes the form of a Contingent Valuation Referendum-like interview aimed at eliciting the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the discovery potential of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most powerful particle accelerator worldwide. Our results point to the attitudes of students about fundamental science measured through their WTP. Building on this pilot experiment, we put forward recommendations for future research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-15T00:38:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-83fe87cea02848b4a530402836cf81f8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-2911 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-15T00:38:50Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences and Humanities Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-83fe87cea02848b4a530402836cf81f82022-12-21T22:41:42ZengElsevierSocial Sciences and Humanities Open2590-29112020-01-0121100091Perceptions of fundamental science: Evidence from a classroom experimentFrancesco Giffoni0Massimo Florio1CSIL – Centre for Industrial Studies, Corso Monforte 15, 20122, Milan, Italy; Department of Economics, Management, and Quantitative Methods, University of Milan, Via Conservatorio 7, 20122, Milan, Italy; Corresponding author. CSIL – Centre for Industrial Studies, Corso Monforte 15, 20122, Milan, Italy.Department of Economics, Management, and Quantitative Methods, University of Milan, Via Conservatorio 7, 20122, Milan, ItalyLarge-scale research infrastructures such as particle colliders, radio telescopes, the International Space Station, are often funded through general taxation and taxpayers are called to contribute to scientific discovery. How much are people actually willing to pay for investments in science? What does drive such a giving behaviour? This paper explores the attitudes of young science-outsiders (the taxpayers of tomorrow) by a pilot experiment involving 230 undergraduate students in economics at University of Milan. The experiment takes the form of a Contingent Valuation Referendum-like interview aimed at eliciting the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the discovery potential of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most powerful particle accelerator worldwide. Our results point to the attitudes of students about fundamental science measured through their WTP. Building on this pilot experiment, we put forward recommendations for future research.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291120300802C83D61I23O32 |
| spellingShingle | Francesco Giffoni Massimo Florio Perceptions of fundamental science: Evidence from a classroom experiment Social Sciences and Humanities Open C83 D61 I23 O32 |
| title | Perceptions of fundamental science: Evidence from a classroom experiment |
| title_full | Perceptions of fundamental science: Evidence from a classroom experiment |
| title_fullStr | Perceptions of fundamental science: Evidence from a classroom experiment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perceptions of fundamental science: Evidence from a classroom experiment |
| title_short | Perceptions of fundamental science: Evidence from a classroom experiment |
| title_sort | perceptions of fundamental science evidence from a classroom experiment |
| topic | C83 D61 I23 O32 |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291120300802 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT francescogiffoni perceptionsoffundamentalscienceevidencefromaclassroomexperiment AT massimoflorio perceptionsoffundamentalscienceevidencefromaclassroomexperiment |