Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Aug 6, 2021
This folder contains the data and analysis scripts necessary to reproduce the example analysis pr... more This folder contains the data and analysis scripts necessary to reproduce the example analysis presented in Zizka et al (2021) Bio-Dem, a tool to explore the relationship between biodiversity data availability and socio-political conditions in time and space.
Genomforande av det svenska systemet for miljokvalitetsnormer : Lardomar fran forskningsprogramme... more Genomforande av det svenska systemet for miljokvalitetsnormer : Lardomar fran forskningsprogrammet SPEQS
This article develops and tests three hypotheses concerning the effects of levels of democracy on... more This article develops and tests three hypotheses concerning the effects of levels of democracy on levels of overfishing in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results show that the more democratic a country is, the more successful it is in protecting marine environments. However, this effect disappears during turbulent times and periods of rapid political change. The analysis also shows that democracy has a stronger effect on environmental performance than do levels of corruption and government effectiveness.
In this article, the authors search for explanations to ups and downs in the Swedish public’s env... more In this article, the authors search for explanations to ups and downs in the Swedish public’s environmental concern since the 1980s. In line with previous research, this study examines the effects of economic cycles and media coverage. In addition, the authors hypothesize that the economy will affect environmental concern less over time because of the entry of ecological modernization into elite discourse. Using time series regression analysis and a unique data set, we study Swedish public opinion during more than 20 years. Economic cycles affect the public’s environmental concern but to a diminishing degree. Public environmental concern is also affected by the amount of media coverage. In accordance with earlier observations, it is concluded that both the economy and media content have an independent effect on public environmental concern. However, the previously observed conflict between economic cycles and public environmental concern is weakened, potentially because of the elite group embracement of an ecological modernization discourse.
In this paper we are concerned with what explains public acceptance and support of environmental ... more In this paper we are concerned with what explains public acceptance and support of environmental taxes. We examine findings in environmental psychology emphasizing that people's (environmental) value-orientation is the dominant driver determining individuals' support for pro-environmental policy instruments. We introduce a complementary model, mainly drawing upon findings in political science, suggesting that people's support for policy instruments is dependent on their level of political trust and their trust in other citizens. More specifically, we analyze whether political trust and interpersonal trust affect individuals' support for an increased carbon dioxide tax in Sweden, while checking their value orientation, self-interest, and various socioeconomic values. We make use of survey data obtained from a mail questionnaire sent out to a random sample of 3,000 individuals in 2009. We find that apart from people's values, beliefs, and norms, both political trust and interpersonal trust have significant effects on people's attitudes toward an increased tax on carbon dioxide.
In the last decade increasing numbers of green political theorists have discussed the challenges ... more In the last decade increasing numbers of green political theorists have discussed the challenges that environmental degradation presents to individual human beings and their lifestyles. Do ecological citizens already exist and, if so, who are they and what factors may explain their existence? From responses to a mail questionnaire sent in 2005 to a random sample of 3000 Swedes aged 15-85, a group of respondents is identified who profess willingness to act as 'ecological citizens' in ways consistent with the concept as operationalised here. Perceived degree of environmental threat, interest in the environment, ideology and age contribute to explain willingness so to act, while commonly suggested factors such as level of education have no significant effect.
The apparent unpopularity of the Swedish carbon tax on fuels for passenger cars is examined in re... more The apparent unpopularity of the Swedish carbon tax on fuels for passenger cars is examined in relation to alternative climate policy measures to decrease carbon emissions from private transport. Using original survey data, it is found that the carbon tax may not be as unpopular as is typically conjectured. Differently put, its (un)popularity is partly determined by how it is framed in today's debate on how society should combat climate change. It is also found that since the total social cost of combating climate change may actually increase as a result of replacing the carbon tax with alternatives, e.g. subsidised green fuels and expanded public transportation, there is a rationale for informing the public about the costs of those policy alternatives. If it is desirable to implement environmental taxes or to increase existing ones, they should perhaps be framed differently than they are today. One suggestion is to present the taxes in relation to the alternatives, where the means to finance them are given along with comparisons of both their likely effects on emissions and their private and social costs.
This article provides an analysis of the support for public policies from a trust perspective. Th... more 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 2), a policy tool aimed at coordinating national emissions targets in Sweden. Among economists and experts in the field of climate policy, a CO 2 tax is viewed as a cost-effective policy. The policy problem is that public support for CO 2 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 2 tax on gasoline can be explained by citizens' generalized trust in other individuals (who they do not necessarily know) or by their trust in politicians. 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 2 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 2 taxes.
Despite two decades of the Common Fishery Policy (CFP), the fishery politics of the European Unio... more Despite two decades of the Common Fishery Policy (CFP), the fishery politics of the European Union (EU) is considered a failure when it comes to securing fish-stocks. This paper explores reasons to this state of affairs by analysing the views and opinions among those subjected to regulations, namely professional fishermen (in Sweden). Since the capacity of any natural management regime to protect the resources depends on appropriators' compliance, the prospects of sustainable natural management depends on improved understanding of when and why appropriators consent, and ultimately comply, with a regulative policy. So, when do fishermen comply with a fishery management regime? Instrumental views give a straightforward explanation; when the risk of being caught is considered high (and the potential economic profit of rulebreaking is low). More normative views point at various "qualities of government" such as procedural fairness, distributive justice, trust and legitimacy, but is much less specified in terms of actual explanations to appropriators' actions. This paper adds a piece to the compliance puzzle by, relying on the model presented by Levi(1997), exploring the importance of 1) imbalanced burdens and 2) trust in authorities. Results confirm the importance of trust in authorities but contradict the idea that experiences of imbalance in burdens have a negative effect on legitimacy. Strikingly enough, fishermen who believe that other governments take greater concern in their fishing-fleets than the Swedish government, value the principles of Swedish fishery politics more.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Aug 6, 2021
This folder contains the data and analysis scripts necessary to reproduce the example analysis pr... more This folder contains the data and analysis scripts necessary to reproduce the example analysis presented in Zizka et al (2021) Bio-Dem, a tool to explore the relationship between biodiversity data availability and socio-political conditions in time and space.
Genomforande av det svenska systemet for miljokvalitetsnormer : Lardomar fran forskningsprogramme... more Genomforande av det svenska systemet for miljokvalitetsnormer : Lardomar fran forskningsprogrammet SPEQS
This article develops and tests three hypotheses concerning the effects of levels of democracy on... more This article develops and tests three hypotheses concerning the effects of levels of democracy on levels of overfishing in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results show that the more democratic a country is, the more successful it is in protecting marine environments. However, this effect disappears during turbulent times and periods of rapid political change. The analysis also shows that democracy has a stronger effect on environmental performance than do levels of corruption and government effectiveness.
In this article, the authors search for explanations to ups and downs in the Swedish public’s env... more In this article, the authors search for explanations to ups and downs in the Swedish public’s environmental concern since the 1980s. In line with previous research, this study examines the effects of economic cycles and media coverage. In addition, the authors hypothesize that the economy will affect environmental concern less over time because of the entry of ecological modernization into elite discourse. Using time series regression analysis and a unique data set, we study Swedish public opinion during more than 20 years. Economic cycles affect the public’s environmental concern but to a diminishing degree. Public environmental concern is also affected by the amount of media coverage. In accordance with earlier observations, it is concluded that both the economy and media content have an independent effect on public environmental concern. However, the previously observed conflict between economic cycles and public environmental concern is weakened, potentially because of the elite group embracement of an ecological modernization discourse.
In this paper we are concerned with what explains public acceptance and support of environmental ... more In this paper we are concerned with what explains public acceptance and support of environmental taxes. We examine findings in environmental psychology emphasizing that people's (environmental) value-orientation is the dominant driver determining individuals' support for pro-environmental policy instruments. We introduce a complementary model, mainly drawing upon findings in political science, suggesting that people's support for policy instruments is dependent on their level of political trust and their trust in other citizens. More specifically, we analyze whether political trust and interpersonal trust affect individuals' support for an increased carbon dioxide tax in Sweden, while checking their value orientation, self-interest, and various socioeconomic values. We make use of survey data obtained from a mail questionnaire sent out to a random sample of 3,000 individuals in 2009. We find that apart from people's values, beliefs, and norms, both political trust and interpersonal trust have significant effects on people's attitudes toward an increased tax on carbon dioxide.
In the last decade increasing numbers of green political theorists have discussed the challenges ... more In the last decade increasing numbers of green political theorists have discussed the challenges that environmental degradation presents to individual human beings and their lifestyles. Do ecological citizens already exist and, if so, who are they and what factors may explain their existence? From responses to a mail questionnaire sent in 2005 to a random sample of 3000 Swedes aged 15-85, a group of respondents is identified who profess willingness to act as 'ecological citizens' in ways consistent with the concept as operationalised here. Perceived degree of environmental threat, interest in the environment, ideology and age contribute to explain willingness so to act, while commonly suggested factors such as level of education have no significant effect.
The apparent unpopularity of the Swedish carbon tax on fuels for passenger cars is examined in re... more The apparent unpopularity of the Swedish carbon tax on fuels for passenger cars is examined in relation to alternative climate policy measures to decrease carbon emissions from private transport. Using original survey data, it is found that the carbon tax may not be as unpopular as is typically conjectured. Differently put, its (un)popularity is partly determined by how it is framed in today's debate on how society should combat climate change. It is also found that since the total social cost of combating climate change may actually increase as a result of replacing the carbon tax with alternatives, e.g. subsidised green fuels and expanded public transportation, there is a rationale for informing the public about the costs of those policy alternatives. If it is desirable to implement environmental taxes or to increase existing ones, they should perhaps be framed differently than they are today. One suggestion is to present the taxes in relation to the alternatives, where the means to finance them are given along with comparisons of both their likely effects on emissions and their private and social costs.
This article provides an analysis of the support for public policies from a trust perspective. Th... more 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 2), a policy tool aimed at coordinating national emissions targets in Sweden. Among economists and experts in the field of climate policy, a CO 2 tax is viewed as a cost-effective policy. The policy problem is that public support for CO 2 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 2 tax on gasoline can be explained by citizens' generalized trust in other individuals (who they do not necessarily know) or by their trust in politicians. 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 2 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 2 taxes.
Despite two decades of the Common Fishery Policy (CFP), the fishery politics of the European Unio... more Despite two decades of the Common Fishery Policy (CFP), the fishery politics of the European Union (EU) is considered a failure when it comes to securing fish-stocks. This paper explores reasons to this state of affairs by analysing the views and opinions among those subjected to regulations, namely professional fishermen (in Sweden). Since the capacity of any natural management regime to protect the resources depends on appropriators' compliance, the prospects of sustainable natural management depends on improved understanding of when and why appropriators consent, and ultimately comply, with a regulative policy. So, when do fishermen comply with a fishery management regime? Instrumental views give a straightforward explanation; when the risk of being caught is considered high (and the potential economic profit of rulebreaking is low). More normative views point at various "qualities of government" such as procedural fairness, distributive justice, trust and legitimacy, but is much less specified in terms of actual explanations to appropriators' actions. This paper adds a piece to the compliance puzzle by, relying on the model presented by Levi(1997), exploring the importance of 1) imbalanced burdens and 2) trust in authorities. Results confirm the importance of trust in authorities but contradict the idea that experiences of imbalance in burdens have a negative effect on legitimacy. Strikingly enough, fishermen who believe that other governments take greater concern in their fishing-fleets than the Swedish government, value the principles of Swedish fishery politics more.
This paper approaches provision of affordable and reliable electricity in Small Island Developing... more This paper approaches provision of affordable and reliable electricity in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as a case of public good provision. It aims to contribute to our understanding of how regime type and the quality of implementing institutions within political systems affect the prerequisites for successful electrification in SIDS. More specifically, we analyse the independent and interdependent effects of level of democracy and control of corruption on per capita household electricity consumption in SIDS, using data from 34 SIDS over the period 1996-2009. The results show that although the independent effects of level of democracy and control of corruption are sensitive to model specification, these two factors do have an interdependent impact on per capita household electricity consumption: democratization has positive effects on provision of electricity to the general population only when there is a certain level of corruption control in place. The results imply a) that it is important for policy actors to acknowledge the interaction between regime type and the quality of implementing institutions, and b) when planning electrification projects in SIDS, it is necessary to have information about the social and political context in order to design the most effective projects. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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