IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/irlaec/v79y2024ics0144818824000334.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beyond courts: Does strategic litigation affect climate change policy support?

Author

Listed:
  • Kovács, Anna
  • Luckner, Katharina
  • Sekuła, Anna
  • Kantorowicz, Jarosław

Abstract

Strategic climate change litigation is a rising phenomenon that has attracted considerable academic interest. Still, limited understanding exists of the effects of strategic litigation cases outside the courtroom – more specifically, on whether strategic litigation can influence public attitudes on climate change policy. Based on the concept of legal cueing, we conduct a pre-registered vignette experiment with a quota-representative sample of UK citizens to study the impact of information on strategic climate change litigation on stated and revealed preferences for climate policy measures. We furthermore perform an exploratory analysis of participants’ demographic characteristics and their expressed sentiment towards a carbon tax. Overall, the experiment returns null results, suggesting no direct link between strategic climate litigation and policy attitudes in our experimental setup. We discuss how legal cues may affect attitudes in a more indirect and cumulative manner.

Suggested Citation

  • Kovács, Anna & Luckner, Katharina & Sekuła, Anna & Kantorowicz, Jarosław, 2024. "Beyond courts: Does strategic litigation affect climate change policy support?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:79:y:2024:i:c:s0144818824000334
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irle.2024.106213
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0144818824000334
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irle.2024.106213?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. Andre, Peter & Boneva, Teodora & Chopra, Felix & Falk, Armin, 2021. "Fighting Climate Change: The Role of Norms, Preferences, and Moral Values," IZA Discussion Papers 14518, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Stefanie Stantcheva, 2023. "How to Run Surveys: A Guide to Creating Your Own Identifying Variation and Revealing the Invisible," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 15(1), pages 205-234, September.
    3. Al-Shemmeri, Tarik & Naylor, Lucy, 2017. "Energy saving in UK FE colleges: The relative importance of the socio-economic groups and environmental attitudes of employees," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P2), pages 1130-1143.
    4. Bullock, John G., 2011. "Elite Influence on Public Opinion in an Informed Electorate," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 105(3), pages 496-515, August.
    5. Beatrice Ferrario & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2022. "Eliciting People's First-Order Concerns: Text Analysis of Open-Ended Survey Questions," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 112, pages 163-169, May.
    6. Benoit Mayer, 2023. "The Contribution of Urgenda to the Mitigation of Climate Change," Journal of Environmental Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 167-184.
    7. Kantorowicz, Jaroslaw & Collewet, Marion & DiGiuseppe, Matthew & Vrijburg, Hendrik, 2024. "How to finance green investments? The role of public debt," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    8. Rinscheid, Adrian & Pianta, Silvia & Weber, Elke U., 2021. "What shapes public support for climate change mitigation policies? The role of descriptive social norms and elite cues," Behavioural Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(4), pages 503-527, October.
    9. Kitschelt, Herbert P., 1986. "Political Opportunity Structures and Political Protest: Anti-Nuclear Movements in Four Democracies," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 57-85, January.
    10. Joshua D. Kertzer & Thomas Zeitzoff, 2017. "A Bottom‐Up Theory of Public Opinion about Foreign Policy," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 61(3), pages 543-558, July.
    11. Robbe Geerts & Frédéric Vandermoere & Hanne Dallenes & Raf Vanderstraeten, 2022. "Crowding-In and Crowding-Out. Studying the Relationship between Sustainable Citizenship and Political Activism in Flanders," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-12, August.
    12. Delmas, Magali A. & Lessem, Neil, 2014. "Saving power to conserve your reputation? The effectiveness of private versus public information," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 353-370.
    13. Umit, Resul & Schaffer, Lena Maria, 2020. "Attitudes towards carbon taxes across Europe: The role of perceived uncertainty and self-interest," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    14. Joana Setzer & Lisa C. Vanhala, 2019. "Climate change litigation: A review of research on courts and litigants in climate governance," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(3), May.
    15. Brian J Preston, 2021. "The Influence of the Paris Agreement on Climate Litigation: Causation, Corporate Governance and Catalyst (Part II)," Journal of Environmental Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 33(2), pages 227-256.
    16. Rhodes, Ekaterina & Axsen, Jonn & Jaccard, Mark, 2017. "Exploring Citizen Support for Different Types of Climate Policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 56-69.
    17. Paula Vicente & Catarina Marques & Elizabeth Reis, 2021. "Willingness to Pay for Environmental Quality: The Effects of Pro-Environmental Behavior, Perceived Behavior Control, Environmental Activism, and Educational Level," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    18. Stefan Drews & Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh, 2016. "What explains public support for climate policies? A review of empirical and experimental studies," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(7), pages 855-876, October.
    19. Madsen, Mikael Rask & Mayoral, Juan A. & Strezhnev, Anton & Voeten, Erik, 2022. "Sovereignty, Substance, and Public Support for European Courts’ Human Rights Rulings," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 116(2), pages 419-438, May.
    20. Eriksson, Louise & Garvill, Jörgen & Nordlund, Annika M., 2008. "Acceptability of single and combined transport policy measures: The importance of environmental and policy specific beliefs," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(8), pages 1117-1128, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Andreassen, Gøril L. & Kallbekken, Steffen & Rosendahl, Knut Einar, 2024. "Can policy packaging help overcome Pigouvian tax aversion? A lab experiment on combining taxes and subsidies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    2. Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, 2022. "Rendre acceptable la nécessaire taxation du carbone. Quelles pistes pour la France ?," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(1), pages 15-53.
    3. Fabienne Cantner & Geske Rolvering, 2022. "Does information help to overcome public resistance to carbon prices? Evidence from an information provision experiment," Working Papers 219, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    4. Habla, Wolfgang & Kokash, Kumai & Löfgren, Åsa & Straubinger, Anna & Ziegler, Andreas, 2024. "Self-interest and support of climate-related transport policy measures: An empirical analysis for citizens in Germany and Sweden," ZEW Discussion Papers 24-028, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline & Mouez Fodha, 2023. "Debt, tax and environmental policy [Dette, taxe et politique environnementale]," Post-Print halshs-04181981, HAL.
    6. Louis J. Kotzé & Benoit Mayer & Harro van Asselt & Joana Setzer & Frank Biermann & Nicolas Celis & Sam Adelman & Bridget Lewis & Amanda Kennedy & Helen Arling & Birgit Peters, 2024. "Courts, climate litigation and the evolution of earth system law," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(1), pages 5-22, February.
    7. Ziegler, Andreas, 2019. "The Relevance of Attitudinal Factors for the Acceptance of Energy Policy Measures: A Micro-econometric Analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 129-140.
    8. Ejelöv, Emma & Nässén, Jonas & Matti, Simon & Elinder, Liselott Schäfer & Larsson, Jörgen, 2025. "Public and political acceptability of a food tax shift – An experiment with policy framing and revenue use," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    9. Bhardwaj, Chandan & Axsen, Jonn & Kern, Florian & McCollum, David, 2020. "Why have multiple climate policies for light-duty vehicles? Policy mix rationales, interactions and research gaps," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 309-326.
    10. Faure, Corinne & Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte & Schleich, Joachim & Tu, Gengyang & Whitmarsh, Lorraine & Whittle, Colin, 2022. "Household acceptability of energy efficiency policies in the European Union: Policy characteristics trade-offs and the role of trust in government and environmental identity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    11. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Adrien Fabre & Tobias Kruse & Bluebery Planterose & Ana Sanchez Chico & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2025. "Fighting Climate Change: International Attitudes toward Climate Policies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 115(4), pages 1258-1300, April.
    12. Stefano Carattini & Andrea Baranzini & Philippe Thalmann & Frédéric Varone & Frank Vöhringer, 2017. "Green Taxes in a Post-Paris World: Are Millions of Nays Inevitable?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 68(1), pages 97-128, September.
    13. Sebastian Levi & Christian Flachsland & Michael Jakob, 2020. "Political Economy Determinants of Carbon Pricing," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(2), pages 128-156, May.
    14. Wagon, Felix & Fridgen, Gilbert & Tiefenbeck, Verena, 2024. "Shaping stable support: Leveraging digital feedback interventions to elicit socio-Political acceptance of renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    15. Odland, Severin & Rhodes, Ekaterina & Corbett, Meghan & Pardy, Aaron, 2023. "What policies do homeowners prefer for building decarbonization and why? An exploration of climate policy support in Canada," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    16. Groh, Elke D. & Möllendorff, Charlotte v., 2020. "What shapes the support of renewable energy expansion? Public attitudes between policy goals and risk, time, and social preferences," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    17. Christian Oltra & Roser Sala & Sergi López-Asensio & Silvia Germán & Àlex Boso, 2021. "Individual-Level Determinants of the Public Acceptance of Policy Measures to Improve Urban Air Quality: The Case of the Barcelona Low Emission Zone," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-13, January.
    18. Lipari, Francesca & Lázaro-Touza, Lara & Escribano, Gonzalo & Sánchez, Ángel & Antonioni, Alberto, 2024. "When the design of climate policy meets public acceptance: An adaptive multiplex network model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    19. Joakim Kulin & Ingemar Johansson Sevä, 2024. "Rightwing populist attitudes and public support for climate policies in Western Europe: Widening the scope using the European Social Survey," PLOS Climate, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(10), pages 1-21, October.
    20. repec:osf:osfxxx:8cquz_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. N. Badullovich & J. Kotcher & T. A. Myers & S. A. Rosenthal & A. Leiserowitz & E. Maibach, 2025. "Understanding six “key truths” about climate change predicts policy support, discussion, and political advocacy," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 178(5), pages 1-23, May.

    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:eee:irlaec:v:79:y:2024:i:c:s0144818824000334. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/irle .

    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.