Are left-wing party strength and corporatism good for the environment? Evidence from panel analysis of air pollution in OECD countries

Abstract

Abstract. The effect of left-wing party strength and corporatism on air pollution levels in up to 21 OECD countries over the period 1980 or 1990 to 1999 is tested with both fixed-effects and random-effects estimators. Controlling for scale, composition, technique as well as aggregate time effects, robust evidence is found that parliamentary green/left-libertarian party strength is associated with lower pollution levels. The rise of ecologically oriented parties has thus had a real impact on air pollution levels.Traditional left-wing party strength is possibly also associated with lower pollution levels, but the evidence is less consistent and robust. Combined left-wing party strength in government is possibly associated with higher pollution levels, but this result is also far from robust and is practically small. No evidence is found for a consistent systematic impact of corporatism on pollution levels.

It Is All about Political Incentives: Democracy and the Renewable Feed-in Tariff

“…First, it offers a global perspective. This is essential because there is limited research on renewable energy policy outside the traditional OECD countries (Schaffer and Bernauer, 2014;Neumayer, 2003). Second, the data cover the universe of FITs in existence.…”

“…We show that distributional concerns play a major role in explaining renewable energy, with important implications for the political economy of environmental policy more generally (Neumayer, 2003).…”

Are Environmental Taxes Affected by Legislatures` Ideological Positions?

“…Conversely, democratic countries with high levels of civil liberties experience greater demand for environmental protection from special interest groups than nondemocratic countries do. Similarly, countries with more social democratic governments and a more corporatist social structure have also been found to exhibit lower levels of pollution (Neumayer, 2003).…”

“…These left-libertarian parties, in contrast with traditional left parties, are less likely to oppose environmental policies for reasons related to jobs losses or detriments to the working class (Neumayer, 2003). While green and left-libertarian parties have normally made coalitions with left parties rather than with right parties, exceptions have occurred in countries such as Latvia, Slovakia, Finland and Belgium, where green parties made national coalitions with non-left parties.…”

“…Various other political variables have also been taken into account to explain the degree of environmental quality. Some of the most analyzed variables are: the type of democratic government (presidential versus parliamentary), the degree of corporatism, the type of electoral rules (majoritarian versus proportional representation), the level of corruption and veto players, the leftwing orientation of the legislature and cabinet, the degree of consensual politics, and the extent of decentralization (Gassebner et al, 2011, Lamla, 2009, Bernauer & Koubi, 2009, Neumayer, 2003, Scruggs, 2001. In order to analyze environmental policy, in this work the variables type of government, corporatism and electoral system will be included in some regressions with the purpose of checking the interaction with the variable of ideology.…”