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Explaining the Schwarzenegger Phenomenon: Local Frontrunners in Climate Policy

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  • Johannes Urpelainen

    (Johannes Urpelainen is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. His research interests international cooperation and political economy, with a special focus on global environmental governance.)

Abstract

The surge of local climate policy is a puzzling political-economic phenomenon. Why have local policy-makers, incapable of mitigating global warming through individual emissions reductions, adopted ambitious policies while national governments refrain from action? I construct a game-theoretic model of two-level climate policy with incomplete information over political benefits. In equilibrium, the government selects a lax national regulation, and local policy-makers with private information on high local benefits choose more ambitious policies despite incentives to free ride. The analysis also suggests that even though local policy-makers prefer not to reveal information to the government, they must do so to pursue short-term political gains. Counterintuitively, new information can lead to more ambitious national regulation even if the government learns that the local political benefits are likely lower than expected. As an empirical application, I study the evolution of climate policies in the United States. (c) 2009 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Johannes Urpelainen, 2009. "Explaining the Schwarzenegger Phenomenon: Local Frontrunners in Climate Policy," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 9(3), pages 82-105, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:9:y:2009:i:3:p:82-105
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Angel Hsu & Li Lili & Marco Schletz & Zhitong Yu, 2024. "Chinese cities as digital environmental governance innovators: Evidence from subnational low-Carbon plans," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 51(3), pages 572-589, March.
    2. Johannes Urpelainen, 2012. "How do electoral competition and special interests shape the stringency of renewable energy standards?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 14(1), pages 23-34, January.
    3. Marcel J. Dorsch & Christian Flachsland, 2017. "A Polycentric Approach to Global Climate Governance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 17(2), pages 45-64, May.
    4. Achim Hagen & Leonhard Kaehler & Klaus Eisenack, 2016. "Transnational Environmental Agreements with Heterogeneous Actors," Working Papers V-387-16, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2016.
    5. Christopher Marcoux & Johannes Urpelainen, 2012. "Capacity, not constraints: A theory of North-South regulatory cooperation," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 399-424, December.
    6. Johannes Urpelainen, 2012. "Technology investment, bargaining, and international environmental agreements," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 145-163, May.
    7. Roolfs, Christina & Gaitan, Beatriz & Edenhofer, Ottmar, 2021. "Make or brake — Rich states in voluntary federal emission pricing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    8. Jon Hovi & Hugh Ward & Frank Grundig, 2015. "Hope or Despair? Formal Models of Climate Cooperation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 62(4), pages 665-688, December.
    9. Johannes Urpelainen, 2013. "A model of dynamic climate governance: dream big, win small," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 107-125, May.
    10. Thomas Bernauer & Robert Gampfer & Aya Kachi, 2014. "European unilateralism and involuntary burden-sharing in global climate politics: A public opinion perspective from the other side," European Union Politics, , vol. 15(1), pages 132-151, March.
    11. Robert Habans & Matthew Thomas Clement & Andrew Pattison, 2019. "Carbon emissions and climate policy support by local governments in California: a qualitative comparative analysis at the county level," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 9(3), pages 255-269, September.
    12. Janelle Knox‐Hayes, 2012. "Negotiating climate legislation: Policy path dependence and coalition stabilization," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(4), pages 545-567, December.
    13. Yi, Hongtao, 2013. "Clean energy policies and green jobs: An evaluation of green jobs in U.S. metropolitan areas," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 644-652.
    14. Taedong Lee & Chris Koski, 2012. "Building Green: Local Political Leadership Addressing Climate Change," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 29(5), pages 605-624, September.
    15. Johannes Urpelainen, 2013. "Can strategic technology development improve climate cooperation? A game-theoretic analysis," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 785-800, August.
    16. Thomas Hale, 2020. "Catalytic Cooperation," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(4), pages 73-98, Autumn.

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