Heterogeneity in climate change beliefs across New Zealand’s rural sector

In this paper we present novel evidence about heterogeneity in climate beliefs using a large-scale survey of farmers, foresters, growers, and lifestyle block owners in New Zealand. Using a flexible, conditional-moments approach, we estimate the interpersonal dispersion in climate change beliefs cond...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology and society 2023-12, Vol.28 (4), p.10, Article art10
Main Authors: Swerdloff, Sabrina, Wesselbaum, Dennis, Stahlmann-Brown, Philip
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
beliefs
Climate action
Climate change
Digital media
Education
Environmental policy
Family farms
Farmers
Heterogeneity
Information sources
Internet access
Lifestyles
Mass media
NGOs
Nongovernmental organizations
Polls & surveys
Questionnaires
Respondents
Social interactions
Social media
Social networks
Social norms
survey
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Summary:In this paper we present novel evidence about heterogeneity in climate beliefs using a large-scale survey of farmers, foresters, growers, and lifestyle block owners in New Zealand. Using a flexible, conditional-moments approach, we estimate the interpersonal dispersion in climate change beliefs conditional on individual characteristics, which provides a direct measure of the heterogeneity in beliefs about climate change. Our results show that women, younger respondents, farmers with less family farming history, higher educated respondents, and those respondents who are less trusting in social media are more likely to believe in climate change. Further, beliefs are more heterogeneous among males (young and old), the less educated, and those who trust social media. Our results offer new insights allowing governments and NGOs to design and communicate policies to reduce the heterogeneity in climate change beliefs, which should support the uptake of climate change actions.
ISSN:1708-3087
1708-3087
DOI:10.5751/ES-14382-280410