Can trust in politicians explain individuals' support for climate policy? The case of CO<sub>2</sub> tax
This article provides an analysis of the support for public policies from a trust perspective. The empirical focus is on the use of a tax on carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>), a policy tool aimed at coordinating national emissions targets in Sweden. Among economists and experts in the field of climate policy, a CO<sub>2</sub> tax is viewed as a cost-effective policy. The policy problem is that public support for CO<sub>2</sub> taxes is very low, leaving policy makers with high-cost options. Apart from traditional explanatory variables such as demographic factors, level of education, ideology and self-interest, what can explain this public opposition? Using individual level data, we analyse whether support for increases in the CO<sub>2</sub> tax on gasoline can be explained by citizens' <italic>generalized trust</italic> in other individuals (who they do not necessarily know) or by their <italic>trust in politicians</italic>. We find that only the latter measure gains support in a regression analysis. Moreover, when splitting the sample into high-trusting and low-trusting individuals, we find that high-trusting individuals who have access to a car (compared with those without access) are statistically no more likely to resist increases in CO<sub>2</sub> taxes than people without access to a car. Rather, it is individuals with access to a car and who do not trust their politicians who are likely to resist CO<sub>2</sub> taxes.
Year of publication: |
2005
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Authors: | Hammar, Henrik ; Jagers, Sverker C. |
Published in: |
Climate Policy. - Taylor & Francis Journals, ISSN 1469-3062. - Vol. 5.2005, 6, p. 613-625
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Publisher: |
Taylor & Francis Journals |
Saved in:
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