October 7, 2020
Nikhar Gaikwad (Columbia), Federica Genovese (Essex) and Dustin Tingley (Harvard),
The video recording is available here.
Abstract
Combating climate change requires large economic adjustments with significant distributional implications. To build coalitions in favor of climate policies, scholars and policymakers increasingly propose compensating vulnerable individuals that bear the costs of decarbonization. However, we know relatively little about which types of compensation trigger more public support for climate action and why. Using original surveys in the United States and India, we show that people who reside in regions that are more vulnerable to the effect of decarbonization on polluting industries have univocal employment-related preferences for compensatory climate policies. Worries about ecological resilience and climate adaptability cross-sect employment-related vulnerability, and people in regions exposed to both vulnerabilities have more mixed preferences for compensatory climate policy instruments. By contrast, the general population privileges more diffuse redistribution mechanisms and discounts compensation to more targeted groups. We trace these preferences to a logic of identity and shared community. Altogether, the findings have implications for the just energy transition and, more generally, for the study of redistributive economic policies.