Climate Policy

Climate Policy 5 (2006) 613–625

Research Article

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

Henrik Hammar1 and Sverker C Jagers2* 1Department of Economics, Göteborg University and National Institute of Economic Research (NIER), Box 3116, Kungsgatan 12–14, SE 103 62 Stockholm, Sweden 2Department of Political Science, Göteborg University, PO Box 711, SE 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden

Received 29 December 2004 ; received in revised form 2 December 2005 ; accepted 11 February 2006

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.

Keywords: Climate change; Trust; Generalized trust; Social capital; Policy; Carbon dioxide tax; Transport; Tax compliance

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