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dc.titleHow Can We Improve Air Pollution?: Try Increasing Trust First
dc.contributor.authorCafferata, Fernando Gabriel
dc.contributor.authorHoffmann, Bridget
dc.contributor.authorScartascini, Carlos
dc.contributor.orgunitDepartment of Research and Chief Economist
dc.coverageMexico
dc.date.available2021-08-09T00:00:00
dc.date.issue2021-08-09T00:00:00
dc.description.abstractEnvironmental policies are characterized by salient short-term costs and long-term benefits that are difficult to observe and to attribute to the government's efforts. These characteristics imply that citizens' support for environmental policies is highly dependent on their trust in the government's capability to implement solutions and commitment to investments in those policies. Using novel survey data from Mexico City, we show that trust in the government is positively correlated with citizens' willingness to support an additional tax approximately equal to a days minimum wage to improve air quality and greater preference for government retention of revenues from fees collected from polluting firms. We find similar correlations using the perceived quality of public goods as a measure of government competence. These results provide evidence that mistrust can be an obstacle to better environmental outcomes.
dc.format.extent37
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0003453
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/How-Can-We-Improve-Air-Pollution-Try-Increasing-Trust-First.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.mediumAdobe PDF
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectAir Quality
dc.subjectPublic Good
dc.subjectEnvironmental Policy
dc.subjectPolitical Trust
dc.subjectTaxation
dc.subject.jelcodeQ53 - Air Pollution • Water Pollution • Noise • Hazardous Waste • Solid Waste • Recycling
dc.subject.jelcodeQ52 - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs • Distributional Effects • Employment Effects
dc.subject.jelcodeQ56 - Environment and Development • Environment and Trade • Sustainability • Environmental Accounts and Accounting • Environmental Equity • Population Growth
dc.subject.jelcodeH23 - Externalities • Redistributive Effects • Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
dc.subject.jelcodeH41 - Public Goods
dc.subject.jelcodeH42 - Publicly Provided Private Goods
dc.subject.keywordsTrust;Mexico;Publicly provided private goods;Public services quality;Air pollution
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-WP-01208
idb.operationRG-T2761
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