Self-interest and support for climate-related transport policy measures in Germany and Sweden

Based on survey data among citizens from Germany and Sweden, this paper examines the individual support for climate-related passenger transport policy measures. Our descriptive statistics reveal that pull policy measures are more strongly supported in both countries than push policy measures and bans. Our econometric analysis focuses on the relevance of economic self-interest, measured by indicators that are in line with the corresponding policy measure. Using multivariate ordered probit models, we show for both countries that citizens who are negatively affected by car-, air travel-, and bicycle-related policy measures are significantly more likely to disagree with them, while citizens who benefit from them are significantly more likely to support them. The corresponding estimated probability effects are substantial. For example, citizens who own or use a means of transport are estimated to be up to 21 percentage points less likely to support policy measures that negatively affect their ownership or use.

Habla, Wolfgang, Kumai Kokash, Asa Löfgren, Anna Straubinger und Andreas Ziegler (2025), Self-interest and support for climate-related transport policy measures in Germany and Sweden, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 144 , 104707