The economy-environment tradeoff: are individual environmental priorities decoupled from national economic conditions?

This paper explores the relationship between individual environmental priorities and national economic conditions, addressing the commonly held belief that individuals prioritize economic concerns over environmental concerns during economic downturns. Introducing the novel concept of attitudinal decoupling, this study empirically analyzes the relationship between environmental priorities and economic conditions using a comprehensive dataset from five waves of the World Values Survey (1994-2022) encompassing 52 countries of varying economic statuses. The findings generally support the existence of a tradeoff that suggests that environmental priorities waver when economic conditions decline. However, the results also highlight significant variations across different countries and periods, with some instances showing increased environmental concern during economic decline. Additionally, the study found that political orientation significantly influences this relationship, particularly in high-income countries. These insights show that the interplay between economic and environmental priorities is complex and nuanced.