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The political economy of passing climate change legislation: evidence from a survey

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  • Fankhauser, Sam
  • Gennaioli, Caterina
  • Collins, Murray

Abstract

Climate change is now a major aspect of public policy. There are almost 500 identified climate change laws in the world’s leading economies. This paper reviews the main domestic factors that drive this legislation. The analysis is based on a unique dataset of climate legislation in 66 national jurisdictions for the period 1990–2013. We find that the passage of new climate laws is influenced by several factors. One important factor is the quantity and quality of previous legislation: the propensity to pass more laws decreases non-linearly with the stock of existing legislation, but increases in the presence of a strategic “flagship law” that sets an overall framework for climate policy. Contrary to widespread belief, political orientation is not a decisive factor. We find no significant difference in the number of laws passed by left-wing and right-wing governments, except perhaps in Anglo-Saxon countries. However, left-leaning governments are more inclined to pass laws in difficult economic times. Despite these elements of bipartisanship, political economy factors still matter: In democracies climate laws are less likely to be passed immediately before an election and legislation is aided by a strong executive that can take on vested interests.

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  • Fankhauser, Sam & Gennaioli, Caterina & Collins, Murray, 2015. "The political economy of passing climate change legislation: evidence from a survey," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 63352, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:63352
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    4. 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.
    5. Shafiqul Islam & Khondker Mohammad Zobair & Cordia Chu & James C. R. Smart & Md Samsul Alam, 2021. "Do Political Economy Factors Influence Funding Allocations for Disaster Risk Reduction?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-20, February.
    6. Apergis, Nicholas & Pinar, Mehmet, 2021. "The role of party polarization in renewable energy consumption: Fresh evidence across the EU countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    7. Frida Boräng & Simon Felgendreher & Niklas Harring & Åsa Löfgren, 2019. "Committing to the Climate: A Global Study of Accountable Climate Targets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-11, March.
    8. Heiner Lüpke & Lucas Leopold & Jale Tosun, 2023. "Institutional coordination arrangements as elements of policy design spaces: insights from climate policy," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(1), pages 49-68, March.
    9. Geoffroy Dolphin & Michael G Pollitt & David M Newbery, 2020. "The political economy of carbon pricing: a panel analysis," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(2), pages 472-500.
    10. Zhongguo Li & Puqi Jia & Fu Zhao & Yikun Kang, 2018. "Mercury Pollution, Treatment and Solutions in Spent Fluorescent Lamps in Mainland China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-16, December.
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    Keywords

    climate change legislation; climate politics; political economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General

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