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Demographic change and the demand for environmental regulation
Author(s) -
Kahn Matthew E.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of policy analysis and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.898
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1520-6688
pISSN - 0276-8739
DOI - 10.1002/pam.1039
Subject(s) - environmentalism , voting , demographics , demographic change , population , product (mathematics) , environmental pollution , demographic economics , economics , population growth , environmental regulation , government (linguistics) , public economics , economic growth , political science , geography , environmental protection , demography , sociology , linguistics , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , politics , law
Environmental regulation in the United States has increased pollution abatement expenditure as a percentageof gross national product from 1.7 percent in 1972 to an estimated 2.6 percent in the year 2000. This rise inregulation has coincided with demographic and economic changes that include rising educational levels, a growingminority population, an aging population, and decreasing employment in polluting industries. This paper examineswhether these trends have contributed to increasing aggregate demand for environmental regulation. New evidenceon voting on environmental ballots in California, local government environmental expenditures across the UnitedStates, and 25 years of congressional voting on environmental issues is examined to document the demographiccorrelates of environmental support. Minorities and the more educated are more pro‐green, whereasmanufacturing workers oppose environmental regulation. While demographics help explain observed differences inenvironmental support and thus can help predict long trends in the “average voter's”environmentalism, environmentalism varies substantially year to year unrelated to population demographics.© 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.