Determinants of climate change policy adoption: A meta-analysis

Recent studies have taken different approaches to explore how climate change policies are shaped by city characteristics in the US. Yet, there is clearly a need for integration of policy adoption literature since there is not a comprehensive synthesis currently available, and the average effect of any associations between local conditions and different policy formulations is unknown. The objective of this study is to present such a synthesis of frequently quantified associations described in the body of empirical research on climate policy adoption. We use average elasticities (i.e., the ratio of the percentage change in the dependent variable associated with the percentage change in an independent variable) to explore the magnitude of associations between various characteristics of local environments and the adoption of climate policies in US cities. Elasticities are best "estimates" as currently possible and should be refined as more individual studies become available. This study finds that public support for climate policy has the largest positive impact on policy adoption. Differences in policy benefits (e.g., local versus global) and approach (e.g., mitigation versus adaptation) should be distinguished when encouraging local governments to confront climate change. Given deficiencies in the empirical literature, critical review essays are needed for integration.