Attitudes to Personal Carbon Allowances

eeu sweden | Climate change Policy design

A personal carbon allowance (PCA) scheme targets emissions from individual consumption and allocates allowances directly to individuals by dividing the carbon budget on a per capita basis. In this study we analyse the results of a survey sent out to a representative sample of the Swedish population regarding attitudes to a potential PCA scheme.

The distinctive design of a PCA scheme is likely to give rise to specific factors affecting individuals‟ attitudes, such as the perceived fairness of the allocation of allowances and corresponding redistribution of wealth, as well as the perceived complexity of the scheme. We perform an ordered probit analysis with attitude to PCAs as the dependent variable, controlling for a number of variables potentially affecting such attitudes. Interestingly, our findings indicate that the most important variable explaining attitudes to the scheme is the perception of respondents that this type of policy instrument seems very complex.

Authors

David, Andersson
Åsa, Löfgren
Anna, Widerberg

EfD Authors

Dr. Åsa Löfgren Research Fellow

Keywords

Centers

eeu sweden

Type of publication

Discussion paper

Reference

David Andersson, Åsa Löfgren, Anna Widerberg, Attitudes to Personal Carbon Allowances (2011), Working Papers in Economics 505, Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg

Environment for Development

Environment for Development