Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Papers in Economics,
University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics

No 786: The Climate Decade: Changing Attitudes on Three Continents

Fredrik Carlsson (), Mitesh Kataria (), Alan Krupnick (), Lampi Elina (), Löfgren Åsa (), Ping Qin (), Sterner Thomas () and Xiaojun Yang ()
Additional contact information
Fredrik Carlsson: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Mitesh Kataria: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Alan Krupnick: Resources for the Future,, Postal: 1616 P St., NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA
Lampi Elina: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Löfgren Åsa: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Ping Qin: School of Applied Economics, Renmin University of China
Sterner Thomas: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Xiaojun Yang: School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Postal: China

Abstract: Using identical surveys a decade apart, we examine how attitudes and willingness to pay (WTP) for climate policies have changed in the United States, China, and Sweden. All three countries exhibit an increased willingness to pay for climate mitigation. Ten years ago, Sweden had a larger fraction of believers in anthropogenic climate change and a higher WTP for mitigation, but today the national averages are more similar. Although we find convergence in public support for climate policy across countries, there is considerable divergence in both WTP and climate attitudes within countries. Political polarization explains part of this divergence.

Keywords: Climate change; willingness to pay; climate policy attitudes; political polarization; multi-country; China; United States; Sweden

JEL-codes: Q51; Q54

45 pages, First version: May 2020. Revised: January 7, 2021.

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