Does government ideology influence environmental performance? Evidence based on a new dataset

Abstract

How a government should act when facing the conflict between economic growth and environmental protection has long been an open question. Using multinational panel data covering 85 countries from 2002 to 2012, this research investigates the relationship between government ideology and environmental quality, while for the first time employing comprehensive indicators for environmental quality, i.e. EPI, EHI and EVI, in an empirical study. We utilize the bias-corrected least square dummy variable (LSDVC) method to first introduce the dynamics and control for potential endogeneity. Then, we incorporate the interactive terms of the ideological indicators and GDP to examine the possible indirect impact of ideology on environmental performance through its influence on economic development. Finally, we investigate the policy area specific position of political parties in coalition governments as well as the plausible role of Christian democratic parties in their environmental attitude in depth. Overall, we find that left-wing governments prefer environmental quality to economic performance, while right-wing governments care more about economic growth than environmental issues. However, when under pressure for a better economic performance, both left- and right-wing governments tend to forgo environmental goals for higher economic growth. More evidence is shown that parties classified as promoting “anti-growth economy” and “environmental protection” exhibit a better environmental performance, and that Christian democratic parties tend to promote an environment-friendly policy in OECD countries.