PUBLIC
ATTITUDES FACTOR
TOWARD AIR POLLUTION AS A MOTIVATIONAL IN TAKING ACTION: COMMENT Sidney M. B l u m n e r *
I. Introduction
Gray, et. a l . , in a s u r v e y in Salt Lake City found that people who thought the p r o b l e m of air pollution was s e r i o u s , had been bothered by it, whose f a m i lies had been a d v e r s e l y affected by it and believed it could be eliminated by public effort w e r e willing to donate funds to eliminate the p r o b l e m [i]. At the t i m e of the publication of the above finding, a survey was c o n ducted of 235 p er s o n s living in Pomona, C a l i f o r n i a - - a community of 80,000 p e o ple. The c r u c i a l differences between Gray, et. a l . , work and the work p r e sented h e r e is that this work dealt with p e o p l e ' s willingness to pay taxes to eliminate air pollution while G r a y ' s dealt with t h e i r willingness to donate money. The data collected f o r this study w e r e evaluated at the . 001 level of s i g n i f icance as was done in G r a y ' s r e s e a r c h . H.
P e r c e p t i o n of Air Pollution as a P r o b l e m and Willingness to Incur Taxes to E l i m i n a t e A ir Pollution
Gray, et. M., found that when people thought that air pollution was a s e r i o u s p r o b l e m they were willing to donate to eliminate the problem. In this study, Hypothesis I was formulated to see if t h er e is a significant difference b e tween the p e r c e p t i o n of air pollution and the amount one is willing to pay in taxes to eliminate air pollution. Hypothesis h T h e r e is no significant difference between how one p e r c e i v e s the p r o b l e m of a ir pollution and the amount of tax one is willing to pay to e li m in a t e the problem. Perception of P r o b l e m 0-50 51-100 101-200 201-500 o v e r 500 E x t r e m e l y Serious 59 19 7 3 4 Very Serious 58 21 8 3 0 Somewhat Serious 28 5 1 2 1 Not Serious 9 0 0 0 0 No Opinion 7 0 0 0 0 DF = 16, Chi-Square $15. 77190 - Not significant Table ~: P e r c e p t i o n of A ir Pollution as a P r o b l e m and Willingness to Pay Tax
* P r o f e s s o r of E c o n o m i c s , California State Polytechnic U n i v er si t y , Pomona.
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The r e s u l t s of the above t e s t indicate that although people may be willing to donate to el i m i n a t e air pollution as the previous study indicated [1, p. 110], they may not be willing to pay i n c r e a s e d taxes c o m m e n s u r a t e with how s e r i o u s they feel the p r o b l e m is. Bothered By Ai r Pollution and Willing to P a y I n c r e a s e d Taxes to E l i m i n at e the P r o b l e m In the r e s e a r c h done by the Gray group the question was asked whether one was bothered by pollution and whether one was willing to donate to el i m i n at e the p r o b l e m [1]. In r e g a r d s to t a x e s , in this s e a r c h two basic questions w e r e asked and tested. Hypothesis II: T h e r e is no significant difference between whether one feels that air pollution has prevented participation in a r e c r e a tional activity and the amount of tax one is willing to pay to e l i m i n ate the problem. Smog Has R e s t r i c t e d Amount of Tax R e c r e a t i o n a l Activity 0-50 51-100 101-200 201-500 over 500 Yes 32 15 4 3 2 No 129 30 12 5 3 DF = 4 Chi-Square 5. 18185 - Not significant Table II: Restricted of Recreation by Smog and Willingness to Pay Tax Hypothesis III: T h e r e is no significant difference between whether one f eel s that air pollution has caused one to m i s s work and the amount of tax one is willing to pay to e l im i n at e the p r o b l e m . Smog Has Caused Amount of Tax One to M i s s W o r k 0-50 51-100 101-200 201-500 Over 500 Yes 17 2 2 1 0 No 144 43 14 7 5 DF = 4 Chi-Square 2.34931 - Not significant Table IIh Missed Work Due to Air Pollution and Willingness to Pay Tax T h er e were no significant d i f f e r e n c e s between how one feR he was influenced in his life by air pollution and the amount of taxes he was willing to pay to eliminate the problem. These results appear to differ from Gray's group's findings [1]. III.
Concern About Effects of Air Pollution on F a m i l y Health and Willingness to Pay Taxes to Eliminate Air Pollution
It appears that based on the research done by Gray, et. al., that people who feel that air pollution adversely effeeted their family's health would be willing to donate to clean up the environment [I, p. iii]. The research done in the
Ii0
Pomona study indicates that t h e r e is no significant difference between how one p e r c e i v e s the effect of a ir pollution on one's f a m i l y ' s health and the amount of tax one is willing to pay to eliminate air pollution. Hypothesis IV: There is no significant difference between how one f eel s that his f a m i l y ' s health has been effected by air pollution and the amount one is willIng to pay in taxes to eliminate the problem. Smog Has Affected One's F a m i l y ' s Health 0-50 Yes 58 No 80 No Opinion 23
51-100 20 15 10
Amount of Tax 101-200 201-500 9 5 8 3 2 0
Over 500 3 2 0
DF = 8 Chi-Square 10. 0042 - Not significant Table IV: F a m i l y Health affected by Air Pollution and Willingness to Pay Tax to Alleviate the P r o b l e m IV.
Responsibility to Eliminate Air Pollution and the Willingness to Pay Taxes to E l i m i n a t e the P r o b l e m
The r e s e a r c h in Pomona, California, also tested a hypothesis concerning one' s willingness to pay i n c r e a s i n g amounts of taxes based upon the p e r c e p t i o n of who is r es p o n s ib le f o r air pollution clean up. Hypothesis V: T h e r e is no significant difference between who is felt to be res p o n s ib le to solve the p r o b l e m of air pollution and the amount one is willing to pay in t a x e s . Who Should Clean Amount of Tax Up Air Pollution 0-50 51-100 101-200 201-500 Over 500 Local Government 14 1 0 2 0 State Government 26 4 1 0 0 F e d e r a l Government 15 3 0 1 1 All Government 71 28 12 5 4 Industry 16 3 0 0 0 Individuals 19 6 3 0 0 DF = 20 Chi-Square 24.47634 - Not significant Table V: Relationship as to who is reponsible to clean up air pollution and willingness to pay taxes to alleviate the problem. T h er e is no significant difference between who is felt responsible to clean up air pollution and the amount one is willing to pay in taxes.
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V.
Demographic Attributes and Amount One is Willing to Pay in Taxes to E l i m i n a t e Air Pollution
Gray, et. a i . , attempted to determine whether there were significant diff e r e n c e s in the demographic attirubutes associated with a willingness to donate to eliminate air pollution [1, 111-112]. Table VI of this paper p r e s e n t s the data f o r Hypotheses VI-X dealing with demographic attributes of r e s i d e n t s of Pomona and the amount of funds they w e r e willing to pay in taxes to eliminate air pollution. Thus there appears to be no demographic attribute associated with the amount one is willing to pay in taxes to eliminate air pollution. Hypothesis Vh T h e r e is no significant difference between one's occupation and the amount one is willing to pay in taxes to e l i m i n ate air pollution. DF = 24
Chi-Square 35. 23631
Not significant
Hypothesis VII: There is no significant difference between sex and the amount one is willing to pay in taxes to eliminate air pollution. DF
= 24
Chi-Square
35. 23631
Not significant
Hypothesis VIII: There is no significant difference between e d u c a tional attainment and the amount one is willing to pay in taxes to eliminate air pollution. DF = 12
Chi-Square 28.19794
Not significant
Hypothesis IX: There is no significant difference between age and the amount one is willing to pay in taxes to eliminate air pollution. DF = 20
Chi-Square 30. 89776
Not significant
Hypothesis X: There is no significant difference between ethnic background and the amount one is willing to pay in taxes to e l i m i n ate air pollution. DF = 20
Chi-Square 20. 06350
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Not significant
T a b l e VI - S e l e c t e d D e m o g r a p h i c C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of S a m p l e and Willingness to Pay Tax to Alleviate P r o b l e m Demographic Characteristic Sex Male Female Occupation Professional Technician Skilled Se m i - s k i l l e d Unskilled Housewife Retired Education Attained 1-8 9-12 13-16 16 o r m o r e Age U n d e r 21 21-30 31-45 46-60 61 o r o v e r Color Black Chicano Oriental White Indian Other
Amount of T a x 101-200 201-500
0-50
51-100
85 76
22 23
10 6
2 6
2 3
3 9 17 35 35 38 24
6 5 3 16 7 8 0
2 1 2 4 2 5 0
0 0 0 1 2 3 2
1 0 0 1 1 1 0
21 96 37 5
3 27 13 2
0 8 5 3
1 3 4 2
0 1 2 12
0 28 40 35 12
1 1 7 20 7
0 1 2 6 1
0 1 1 2 1
0 0 1 1 2
41 34 3 80 1 2
7 9 1 28 0 0
1 4 0 11 0 0
2 0 0 5 0 1
0 1 0 3 0 1
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O v e r 500