Valuing the environment : a comparison of Western Europe, the US, and Canada.

Abstract

Using the World Values Survey, we evaluate the differences in environmental preferences between the United States and two other global leaders, Western Europe and Canada, in order to discover whether there is evidence, at the citizen level, to support the international criticism that the majority of Americans are not concerned for the environment and are a hindrance to its protection. In addition, we study what individual characteristics are correlated with pro-environmental preferences. We do not find evidence that supports the criticism that the majority of Americans are less environmentally conscious than Western Europe and Canada in several indicators of environmental concern. In addition, we find that individual-level characteristics such as gender, age, size of the town of residence, employment status, education, and income are significant predictors of environmental preferences.