Policy Knowledge and Public Acceptance of Climate Policy Costs: Evidence from South Korea

• In Event: From Perception to Policy to Behavior: Governing Emerging Distributed Energy Systems

Abstract

While large-scale climate policy initiatives promise long-term environmental and economic benefits, they also impose short-term economic burdens. Such initiatives generally require individuals to bear tangible costs, including higher energy prices and infrastructure investments, making citizen support and cooperation critical for policy success. This creates a key policy challenge: securing public acceptance of policy costs. Understanding the factors that shape public attitudes toward these costs is therefore essential for promoting acceptance of large-scale climate policies. This study examines how public knowledge of policy shapes citizens’ acceptance of policy costs in the context of South Korea’s Green New Deal. The Green New Deal is a large-scale policy initiative aimed at accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy through investments in renewable energy, green infrastructure, and sustainable industries. Drawing on theories of political knowledge and public attitudes, we argue that policy knowledge plays a central role in shaping individual attitudes towards the trade-offs of Green New Deal initiatives. This is because greater knowledge may enhance individuals’ understanding of policy goals, benefits, and effectiveness, thereby increasing their willingness to accept associated costs. To test this hypothesis, we analyze data from a nationally representative survey conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration (N = 1,000). The dependent variables capture two dimensions of cost acceptance: general acceptance of costs associated with Green New Deal implementation and acceptance of electricity price increases resulting from renewable energy transition. The key independent variable measures respondents’ knowledge of major New Deal policy components. The analysis controls for environmental risk perception, evaluations of government climate response, interest in climate issues, baseline policy support, and socio-demographic characteristics. The results indicate that policy knowledge is positively and significantly associated with acceptance of policy costs across both outcomes. Individuals with higher levels of knowledge are more likely to accept both general policy costs and increases in electricity prices. In addition, climate interest, baseline policy support, and positive evaluations of government response are consistently associated with greater cost acceptance, while environmental risk perception does not exhibit a significant effect. These findings extend theories of political knowledge and policy acceptance beyond the U.S. context and demonstrate their relevance in South Korea. They also suggest that improving public understanding of policy design and intended benefits may help build support for costly but necessary climate transitions. From a policy perspective, transparency and effective communication are critical tools for fostering durable public acceptance of large-scale climate policy.

Author

• Junghwa Choi, University of Nebraska-Omaha
  Presenting Author