Can trust in politicians explain individuals' support for climate policy? The case of CO2 tax

Abstract

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 (CO2), a policy tool aimed at coordinating national emissions targets in Sweden. Among economists and experts in the field of climate policy, a CO2 tax is viewed as a cost-effective policy. The policy problem is that public support for CO2 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 CO2 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 CO2 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 CO2 taxes.