Unequal Treatment, Fairness Perceptions, and the Rural Backlash Against Carbon Taxation
Speaker: David Hope (KCL) with Julian Limberg and Yves Steinebach

Abstract
Why is there such strong opposition to carbon taxes in rural areas? In this
paper, we develop the literature on fairness perceptions and the rural backlash
against carbon taxation by focusing on procedural fairness concerns. We argue
that perceptions of unequal treatment by the state (especially around access to
public transport) lead people living in rural areas to be less supportive of carbon
taxes, because they believe that carbon taxes unfairly punish those that have
already been disadvantaged by the state. We carry out a survey with a representative
sample of around 3,000 respondents from the UK to test our argument. First,
we provide observational evidence on urban–rural differences in unequal treatment
beliefs, fairness perceptions and carbon tax support. Second, we test our
argument causally through an information-provision survey experiment, where
we show the treatment group information on the highly geographically unequal
distribution of public spending on transport in the UK. For rural respondents, the
treatment significantly increases perceptions of unequal treatment and carbon tax
unfairness, leading to a substantial reduction in support for carbon taxation of
around 10 percentage points. Taken together, our results provide strong evidence
in support of our argument.
Date: 24 May 2024, 13:00 (Friday, 5th week, Trinity 2024)
Venue: Manor Road Building, Manor Road OX1 3UQ
Venue Details: Seminar Room A
Speaker: David Hope (KCL)
Organising department: Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR)
Part of: Politics Research Colloquium
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editors: Holly Omand, Daniel Burton