Interests, Norms, and Mass Support for Global Climate Cooperation
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2015-06-26
Author(s)
Abstract (De)
The provision of manageable greenhouse gases to mitigate climate change is the paradigmatic global public good. As with most public goods, domestic political conflict over its provision is a central determinant of cooperation on climate policy. What role, if any, do economic interests and social norms play in shaping public disagreement about climate policy? We examine observational and experimental data from original surveys in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, using various measures of the pollutiveness of individuals' industries of employment and quasi-behavioral measures of altruism and reciprocity. Our results suggest that both sector-based interests and social norms determine support for global climate cooperation. We also find evidence that these factors sometimes interact, mediating each other's effect on support for climate change cooperation. Our results have implications for both scholarship on the determinants of policy preferences and the political debate about the optimal design of institutions in the context of international climate change cooperation.
Language
German
Keywords
climate cooperation
public opinion
environmental politics
international relations
norms
interests
experiments
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Event Title
5th European Political Science Association (ESPA) Conference
Event Location
Vienna
Event Date
25.-27.06.2015
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
245979