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Civil servants’ education and the representativeness of the bureaucracy in environmental policy-making

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Abstract

We model and test the representativeness of environmental policy-making, as implied by cost-benefit analysis (CBA) results, in governmental agencies assuming that individual civil servants maximize their personal utility. Education may also influence civil servants’ behavior. The biologists in our sample have the highest valuation of environmental quality. We suspect that their training does not teach them about societal welfare maximization and that they consequently do not adjust their policy recommendation to CBA results, while the economists, who learn about welfare economics, do. The empirical results indicate that the economists adjust their private valuation of the environment by a factor giving a sufficient weight to the CBA results to make their average choice a cost-efficient one. Even the economists in our sample chose on average a policy that is costlier than the cost-efficient one yet clearly less expensive than the policy chosen by the biologists and social scientists.

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  • Jussila Hammes, Johanna, 2013. "Civil servants’ education and the representativeness of the bureaucracy in environmental policy-making," Working papers in Transport Economics 2013:30, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2013_030
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    File URL: http://www.transportportal.se/swopec/CTS2013-30.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jussila Hammes, Johanna & Pyddoke, Roger & Nerhagen, Lena, 2013. "The impact of education on environmental policy decision-making," Working papers in Transport Economics 2013:9, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
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    3. Johanna Jussila Hammes, 2013. "The Political Economy of Infrastructure Planning in Sweden," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 47(3), pages 437-452, September.
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    6. Trebilcock, Michael J. & Hartle, Douglas G., 1982. "The choice of governing instrument," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 29-46, June.
    7. Meier, Kenneth John, 1975. "Representative Bureaucracy: An Empirical Analysis," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 69(2), pages 526-542, June.
    8. Keiser, Lael R. & Wilkins, Vicky M. & Meier, Kenneth J. & Holland, Catherine A., 2002. "Lipstick and Logarithms: Gender, Institutional Context, and Representative Bureaucracy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 96(3), pages 553-564, September.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Biologists; Bureaucracy; Civil servants; Education; Economists; Environmental policy; Political Economics; Representative bureaucracy; Surveys; Use of cost-benefit analysis; Weighted welfare;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H83 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Public Administration
    • Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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