Conference Agenda

By using controlled survey experiments, we investigate how politicization and cost of climate policies affect people’s beliefs about scientific information on climate change. We find that citizens' confidence in science-based information on climate is not judged only by its content. In particular, when a climate policy, based on scientific information, is aligned with political affiliation, trust in the scientific information is significantly lower than if the policy is not affiliated with any political party, a result that the right-block voters drive. For these voters the mere politicization of the policy results in a negative effect on the trust. For left-block voters, if the Green Party supports the policy, they are more likely to believe that the scientific information underestimates climate change. Manipulating the financial cost of climate policy to evoke cognitive dissonance did not affect citizens’ trust in the scientific information.

The transition to a renewable heating system poses extraordinary policy challenges to societies in Europe and beyond. Many buildings are heated decentrally, which makes broad public acceptance essential. As governments may be held responsible for perceived policy impacts on individuals, analyzing their effects on electoral support is of high relevance. This study examines the electoral impact of an amendment to the German Buildings Energy Act which proposed a phase-out of fossil-fueled heating systems. We combine municipal election data with granular socioeconomic and building stock data and apply difference-in-differences regressions to identify treatment effects of the policy amendment on electoral support. We find that material costs of the policy, proxied by the characteristics of the local building stock, led to relative gains for the right-wing populist party, further increasing in low-income areas. These findings highlight the importance of holistic climate policy approaches that account for heterogeneous burdens and counteract a political backlash through compensation policies.

This study analyzes the impact of car-free street policies on local PM10 concentrations and residential electricity consumption in Seoul, Korea. Using a regression discontinuity in time (RDiT) design and a spatial difference-in differences (DiD), we examine daily PM10 monitoring station records and monthly electricity consumption data from 2011 to 2019. The results show that the introduction of car-free streets results in reduction 18.1% in PM10 concentrations within a two-year period. Furthermore, improvement in local air quality was associated with a 2.9% decrease in residential electricity consumption in the vicinity area. Robustness tests confirm the main results, underscoring that car-free streets not only improve local air quality, but also reduce energy consumption in residential areas.

This article investigates the effects of urban agglomeration on inequalities

in air pollution exposure in France. Using detailed data at a very fine scale

on income and concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and O3, the study finds

that greater urban agglomeration increases the likelihood that poorer house-

holds experience higher chronic exposure to PM10, PM2.5, and NO2 com-

pared to wealthier households. In contrast, urban agglomeration decreases

the probability of poorer households being chronically more exposed to O3

than their wealthier counterparts. These findings are robust to instrumental

variable techniques, employing historical population density and a novel in-

strument based on World War I fatality rates. The disparities may partially be

explained by wealthier households relocating from city centers to suburban ar-

eas, thereby avoiding central urban pollution (NO2, PM2.5, and PM10) while

encountering suburban pollution (O3). This research highlights how urban

agglomeration shapes environmental inequities, demonstrating that the most

disadvantaged urban populations tend to bear a disproportionate burden of

environmental congestion costs.

The European travel sector is experiencing a transformation driven by increased climate awareness and policy measures aimed at reducing emissions. This study examines how Swiss travelers respond to these developments, using a stated preference choice experiment including the modes train, night train, car, and airplane. We calculate price elasticities and find a significant willingness-to-pay (WTP) of CHF 9.38 for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), while the (lower) WTP for carbon offsetting remains insignificant. Based on the estimated coefficients, we evaluate the impacts of four planned policy scenarios: a flight tax (30 CHF), a subsidy for night trains (20 CHF), a SAF blending quota (50%), and a realistic market outlook for 2030 including a mixture of policies. These proposed policies are compared to the first-best Pigouvian tax. After assessing demand shifts, changes in consumer surplus, and welfare effects including external costs, we find that subsidizing night train prices and the 2030 scenario increase welfare, while the flight ticket levy and a 50% SAF mandate reduce it.

Environmental regulation often emerges from the interplay between corporate interests and environmental advocacy, each represented by lobbyists competing to shape policy. This study analyses the strategic interaction between the industry and an environmental group (EG) when there is a lobbying contest to influence regulatory policy and (1) the industry has two investment options to comply with regulatory standards -- ex-ante abatement, implemented prior to production, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which can be adjusted later--and can be interpreted as ex-post abatement and (2) the EG may supplement its lobbying activities with a direct campaign against the industry. Our findings reveal that under certain conditions, the option to invest in CSR diminishes the industry's incentives for ex-ante abatement (crowd-out effect) and explores the effects of the environmentalist's campaign on the industry's investment strategy.