The Waste War: on the electoral costs of local sustainability policies

Sometimes, environmentally successful policies fail, not because of personal attitudes or technical feasibility, but because of the electoral dispute. Using fixed effects, Difference-in-Difference estimators and opinion polls, this paper scrutinizes the electoral cost of introducing a door-to-door (...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gainza Barrencua, Xabier, Montes Nebreda, Andoni
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/70355
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/70355
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:environmental policymaking
electoralism
local political economy
municipal waste management
door-to-door waste collection
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spelling The Waste War: on the electoral costs of local sustainability policiesGainza Barrencua, XabierMontes Nebreda, Andonienvironmental policymakingelectoralismlocal political economymunicipal waste managementdoor-to-door waste collectionSometimes, environmentally successful policies fail, not because of personal attitudes or technical feasibility, but because of the electoral dispute. Using fixed effects, Difference-in-Difference estimators and opinion polls, this paper scrutinizes the electoral cost of introducing a door-to-door (D-t-D) waste collection system in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa (Spain). D-t-D aimed to raise sorting rates in order to make the construction of an incinerator redundant. Separate collection improved significantly, but estimates show that the main opposition party increased its vote share by 12 percentage points in the following municipal elections as a result of the policy. Seeking the reasons for the opposition’s success, opinion polls reveal that D-t-D was surrounded by controversy and lack of information that even led citizens to perceive it as environmentally less efficient. In this context, citizens were unwilling to accept the change in habits that the new waste collection system entailed if they saw their efforts diluted in the electoral dispute. The article concludes that not only the environmental performance, but also the perceived effectiveness of the policy, a climate of social trust and the provision of participation mechanisms are determinants for the electoral success of green policies.Taylor & Francis202420242023info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10810/70355reponame:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigacióninstname:Universidad del País VascoIngléshttps://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2023.2238638info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/(c) 2023 Taylor & Francisoai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/703552026-06-18T09:23:17Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The Waste War: on the electoral costs of local sustainability policies
title The Waste War: on the electoral costs of local sustainability policies
spellingShingle The Waste War: on the electoral costs of local sustainability policies
Gainza Barrencua, Xabier
environmental policymaking
electoralism
local political economy
municipal waste management
door-to-door waste collection
title_short The Waste War: on the electoral costs of local sustainability policies
title_full The Waste War: on the electoral costs of local sustainability policies
title_fullStr The Waste War: on the electoral costs of local sustainability policies
title_full_unstemmed The Waste War: on the electoral costs of local sustainability policies
title_sort The Waste War: on the electoral costs of local sustainability policies
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Gainza Barrencua, Xabier
Montes Nebreda, Andoni
author Gainza Barrencua, Xabier
author_facet Gainza Barrencua, Xabier
Montes Nebreda, Andoni
author_role author
author2 Montes Nebreda, Andoni
author2_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv environmental policymaking
electoralism
local political economy
municipal waste management
door-to-door waste collection
topic environmental policymaking
electoralism
local political economy
municipal waste management
door-to-door waste collection
description Sometimes, environmentally successful policies fail, not because of personal attitudes or technical feasibility, but because of the electoral dispute. Using fixed effects, Difference-in-Difference estimators and opinion polls, this paper scrutinizes the electoral cost of introducing a door-to-door (D-t-D) waste collection system in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa (Spain). D-t-D aimed to raise sorting rates in order to make the construction of an incinerator redundant. Separate collection improved significantly, but estimates show that the main opposition party increased its vote share by 12 percentage points in the following municipal elections as a result of the policy. Seeking the reasons for the opposition’s success, opinion polls reveal that D-t-D was surrounded by controversy and lack of information that even led citizens to perceive it as environmentally less efficient. In this context, citizens were unwilling to accept the change in habits that the new waste collection system entailed if they saw their efforts diluted in the electoral dispute. The article concludes that not only the environmental performance, but also the perceived effectiveness of the policy, a climate of social trust and the provision of participation mechanisms are determinants for the electoral success of green policies.
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023
2024
2024
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10810/70355
url http://hdl.handle.net/10810/70355
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2023.2238638
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
(c) 2023 Taylor & Francis
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
(c) 2023 Taylor & Francis
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Taylor & Francis
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Taylor & Francis
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
instname:Universidad del País Vasco
instname_str Universidad del País Vasco
reponame_str Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
collection Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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