Socio-economic and political factors affecting the rate of recycling in Portuguese municipalities

Abstract

Literature has primarily studied the impact of social-economic factors on the recycling propensity of municipal areas, but it has given little attention to the role played by political factors. This study uses the 2009–2017 data on Portuguese municipalities to analyze the impact of social-economic and political factors on recycling, and by estimating dynamic panel models, we validate the U-shaped hypothesis between recycling and production activity. The findings show a positive association between the primary sector and recycling, a higher recycling in the older generation, and an increase in recycling during the fiscal consolidation period. It was also found that recycling is not influenced by local government's political ideology, but recycling does decline in election years, and it is lower when the executive in the Town Council and the Municipal Assembly share the same political ideology. Evidence suggests that recycling adjusts quickly to its desirable level, reflecting a fast learning process.