IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jenvss/v8y2018i3d10.1007_s13412-017-0452-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of unemployment and economic risk perceptions on attitudes towards anthropogenic climate change

Author

Listed:
  • Salil D. Benegal

    (DePauw University)

Abstract

This study uses public opinion data from 2006 to 2014 to examine the effect of unemployment and partisan identity on attitudes towards anthropogenic climate change. Results show that while Republican partisanship and conservative ideology are strongly associated with lower reported belief in anthropogenic climate change, these attitudes are also shaped by subjective perceptions of economic risk and increased local unemployment rates. I find that exposure to economic risk increases the likelihood of climate change denial among both Democrats and Republicans. These findings help explain trends in environmental public opinion over the past decade, in particular the increase in reported denial or skepticism about climate change after the 2008 economic recession.

Suggested Citation

  • Salil D. Benegal, 2018. "The impact of unemployment and economic risk perceptions on attitudes towards anthropogenic climate change," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 8(3), pages 300-311, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:8:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s13412-017-0452-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s13412-017-0452-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13412-017-0452-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13412-017-0452-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ariel Malka & Jon A. Krosnick & Gary Langer, 2009. "The Association of Knowledge with Concern About Global Warming: Trusted Information Sources Shape Public Thinking," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 633-647, May.
    2. Margalit, Yotam, 2013. "Explaining Social Policy Preferences: Evidence from the Great Recession," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 107(1), pages 80-103, February.
    3. Robert Brulle & Jason Carmichael & J. Jenkins, 2012. "Shifting public opinion on climate change: an empirical assessment of factors influencing concern over climate change in the U.S., 2002–2010," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 169-188, September.
    4. Aaron M. McCright & Riley E. Dunlap, 2013. "Bringing ideology in: the conservative white male effect on worry about environmental problems in the USA," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 211-226, February.
    5. Anthony A. Leiserowitz, 2005. "American Risk Perceptions: Is Climate Change Dangerous?," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1433-1442, December.
    6. Boudet, Hilary & Clarke, Christopher & Bugden, Dylan & Maibach, Edward & Roser-Renouf, Connie & Leiserowitz, Anthony, 2014. "“Fracking” controversy and communication: Using national survey data to understand public perceptions of hydraulic fracturing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 57-67.
    7. Duch, Raymond M. & Stevenson, Randy, 2005. "Context and the Economic Vote: A Multilevel Analysis," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 387-409.
    8. Robert E. O'Connor & Richard J. Bord & Brent Yarnal & Nancy Wiefek, 2002. "Who Wants to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 83(1), pages 1-17, March.
    9. Lawrence Hamilton, 2011. "Education, politics and opinions about climate change evidence for interaction effects," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 231-242, January.
    10. Robert Y. Shum, 2012. "Effects of economic recession and local weather on climate change attitudes," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 38-49, January.
    11. Lisa Zaval & Elizabeth A. Keenan & Eric J. Johnson & Elke U. Weber, 2014. "How warm days increase belief in global warming," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(2), pages 143-147, February.
    12. J. Scott Long & Jeremy Freese, 2006. "Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables using Stata, 2nd Edition," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, edition 2, number long2, March.
    13. B. Dan Wood & Arnold Vedlitz, 2007. "Issue Definition, Information Processing, and the Politics of Global Warming," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(3), pages 552-568, July.
    14. Matthew E. Kahn & Matthew J. Kotchen, 2011. "Business Cycle Effects On Concern About Climate Change: The Chilling Effect Of Recession," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(03), pages 257-273.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Teresa Lackner & Luca E. Fierro & Patrick Mellacher, 2024. "Opinion Dynamics meet Agent-based Climate Economics: An Integrated Analysis of Carbon Taxation," LEM Papers Series 2024/11, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    2. Gabriela Azócar & Marco Billi & Rubén Calvo & Nicolas Huneeus & Marta Lagos & Rodolfo Sapiains & Anahí Urquiza, 2021. "Climate change perception, vulnerability, and readiness: inter-country variability and emerging patterns in Latin America," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 11(1), pages 23-36, March.
    3. Gabriella De Sario & Giovanni Marin & Agnese Sacchi, 2023. "Citizens' attitudes towards climate mitigation policies: The role of occupational exposure in EU countries," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(2), pages 255-280, May.
    4. Johnston, David W. & Knott, Rachel & Mendolia, Silvia, 2022. "Climate Change Salience, Economic Insecurity, and Support for Mitigation Policies," IZA Discussion Papers 15562, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew G. Meyer, 2022. "Do economic conditions affect climate change beliefs and support for climate action? Evidence from the US in the wake of the Great Recession," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(1), pages 64-86, January.
    2. Stephanie Shepard & Hilary Boudet & Chad M. Zanocco & Lori A. Cramer & Bryan Tilt, 2018. "Community climate change beliefs, awareness, and actions in the wake of the September 2013 flooding in Boulder County, Colorado," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 8(3), pages 312-325, September.
    3. Stefan Linde, 2020. "The Politicization of Risk: Party Cues, Polarization, and Public Perceptions of Climate Change Risk," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(10), pages 2002-2018, October.
    4. Jeremiah Bohr, 2017. "Is it hot in here or is it just me? Temperature anomalies and political polarization over global warming in the American public," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 271-285, May.
    5. Emőke Kiss & Dániel Balla & András Donát Kovács, 2022. "Characteristics of Climate Concern—Attitudes and Personal Actions—A Case Study of Hungarian Settlements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-22, April.
    6. Donatella Baiardi, 2021. "What do you think about climate change?," Working Papers 477, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2021.
    7. Mangani, Andrea, 2021. "When does print media address deforestation? A quantitative analysis of major newspapers from US, UK, and Australia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    8. Baiardi, Donatella & Morana, Claudio, 2021. "Climate change awareness: Empirical evidence for the European Union," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    9. Lawrence C. Hamilton, 2016. "Public Awareness of the Scientific Consensus on Climate," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(4), pages 21582440166, November.
    10. Llewelyn Hughes & David M. Konisky & Sandra Potter, 2020. "Extreme weather and climate opinion: evidence from Australia," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 723-743, November.
    11. Raya Muttarak & Thanyaporn Chankrajang, 2015. "Who is concerned about and takes action on climate change? Gender and education divides among Thais," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 13(1), pages 193-220.
    12. Jing Shi & Vivianne H. M. Visschers & Michael Siegrist, 2015. "Public Perception of Climate Change: The Importance of Knowledge and Cultural Worldviews," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(12), pages 2183-2201, December.
    13. Lawrence C. Hamilton, 2018. "Self-assessed understanding of climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 349-362, November.
    14. David K Sewell & Peter J Rayner & Daniel B Shank & Sophie Guy & Simon D Lilburn & Saam Saber & Yoshihisa Kashima, 2017. "Causal knowledge promotes behavioral self-regulation: An example using climate change dynamics," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(9), pages 1-19, September.
    15. Constantine Boussalis & Travis G. Coan & Mirya R. Holman, 2018. "Climate change communication from cities in the USA," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 173-187, July.
    16. Donatella Baiardi, 2021. "What do you think about climate change?," Working Paper series 21-16, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    17. Sara Ekholm & Anna Olofsson, 2017. "Parenthood and Worrying About Climate Change: The Limitations of Previous Approaches," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(2), pages 305-314, February.
    18. Whitney Fleming & Adam L. Hayes & Katherine M. Crosman & Ann Bostrom, 2021. "Indiscriminate, Irrelevant, and Sometimes Wrong: Causal Misconceptions about Climate Change," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(1), pages 157-178, January.
    19. Ziegler, Andreas, 2015. "On the relevance of ideology and environmental values for climate change beliefs, climate policy support, and climate protection activities: An empirical cross country analysis," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112918, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    20. Inna Čábelková & Luboš Smutka & Wadim Strielkowski, 2022. "Public support for sustainable development and environmental policy: A case of the Czech Republic," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 110-126, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:8:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s13412-017-0452-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.