Fines or incentives to protect the environment? Adapting environmental policy to the characteristics of national culture
(A2019-8084)

AUTHORS

Leila Elgaaied-Gambier, TBS Business School

KEYWORDS

Pro-environmental legislation; Government intervention; National culture

ABSTRACT

Based on the observation that government interventions to protect the environment cannot be successful if they are not supported by most citizens, this research seeks to understand the determinants of overall attitudes toward environmental legislation based on fines, financial incentives or taxation at the European Union level. Our main proposition is that the level of support for these different types of environmental policies depends partly on the characteristics of national culture. We adopt an exploratory approach relying on secondary data to conduct a correlational study. Our findings confirm that environmental policies would gain more support if they were adapted to the characteristics of national culture. Implications for policymakers are discussed.