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FACTORS AFFECTING PALESTINIANS’ INTENTION TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL TAX IMPLEMENTATION

BY

MOHAMMED M. S. SHAHEEN

INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

2016

FACTORS AFFECTING PALESTINIANS’ INTENTION TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL TAX IMPLEMENTATION

BY

MOHAMMED M. S. SHAHEEN

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science (Accounting)

Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences International Islamic University Malaysia

MARCH 2016

ABSTRACT

Pollution is increasing rapidly around the world, and its effects are becoming more and more pronounced. These effects are hazardous to human life. Some actual and expected effects of pollution have been addressed in several research papers. Approximately 47 billion ton of emissions are generated from the various sources of pollution, and 300,000 people are killed per year, 325 million humans severely affected, 4 billion inhabitants are vulnerable, half a billion humans are at extreme risk, and the losses of social welfare are valued at US$125 billion per year globally. This number is expected to increase to 70 billion ton of emissions in 2030, while the temperature of the earth is expected to increase by 2-4 degrees by the next century. Pollution is similar in Palestine as it is in other countries around the globe. This pressure is embodied in the sharp increase of emissions from diverse sources from 2006 to 2011. The potential effect of the pollution in Palestine could be seen in the increased spending on both environment and health, where it increased from US$62.5 million in 2011 to US$66.8 million in 2012, and increased from less than US$400 million in 2000 to greater than US$1.3 billion in 2013, respectively. In light of these facts, the researcher was motivated to elicit Palestinians intentions towards the implementation of environmental taxes as a potential tool to mitigate pollution. In order to achieve that goal, the research used several vehicles, namely the citizens’ beliefs about the consequences of climate change, Palestinian beliefs about the potential impacts of the environmental tax, and their attitudes towards the implementation of environmental taxes. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) forms the theoretical background of the study. This research was carried out in the West Bank in Palestine using an online survey. The study found that Palestinians are well aware of the consequences of climate change, and they believe that it will negatively affect not only their daily life, but is also detrimental to animals and plants. They believe that environmental taxes will help decrease pollution, and ultimately increase their quality of life. A positive attitude towards the implementation of environmental taxes among Palestinians was confirmed. Moreover, around 74.3 percent of the Palestinians intend to accept environmental tax as a new tax, and 69.5 percent of them intend to accept environmental tax as an increment to the current taxes if the revenue is to be used to tackle environmental degradation. Finally, gender, age, level of education, occupation, income, marital status, and the place of residence are the social, economic, and demographic factors that were utilized in this research as control variables. These control variables were found to not have any significant effect on Palestinians’ intention towards the implementation of environmental taxes.

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‫خالصة البحث‬ ‫‪ABSTRACT IN ARABIC‬‬ ‫أتثيا وخطوررة مما يهدد حياة اإلنسان ووجوده‪ .‬مت إثبات‬ ‫ازدادت نسبة التلوث بسرعة حول العامل حيث أصبحت أكثر ر‬ ‫بعض التأثيات الفعلية واملتوقعة للتلوث يف عدد من األحباث السابقة‪ .‬بلغت هذه التأثيات ما يقارب ‪ 47‬مليار طن من‬ ‫االنبعااثت الغازية من خمتلف مصادر التلوث مما أدى إىل وفاة ما يقارب ‪ 300,000‬شخص سنواي وأثر بشكل خطي‬ ‫على ‪ 325‬مليون إنسان و ‪ 4‬مليار إنسان مهددون ابخلطر و ‪ 500‬مليون شخص هم يف مرحلة اخلطر الشديد‪ ،‬وقد‬ ‫بلغت أيضا خسارة الرفاه االجتماعي حوايل ‪ 125‬مليار دوالر أمريكي‪ .‬ومن املتوقع أن تزداد تلك اإلنبعااثت لتصل إىل‬ ‫‪ 70‬مليار طن يف عام ‪2030‬م ‪ ،‬مع احتمال ارتفاع درجة حرارة االرض من ‪ 4-2‬درجات خالل القرن القادم‪ .‬إن‬ ‫هتديد التلوث يف فلسط ن مشاب لبقية دول العامل‪ ،‬حيث جتسد هذا التهديد يف االرتفاع الكبي حبجم االنبعااثت الغازية‬ ‫من خمتلف املصادر منذ العام ‪2011- 2006‬م‪ .‬ومن احملتمل أن التلوث يف فلسط ن قد ساهم يف زايدة االنفاق على‬ ‫البيئة من ‪ 62.5‬مليون دوالر عام ‪2011‬م اىل ‪ 66.8‬مليون دوالر عام ‪2012‬م ابالضافة إىل ذلك بلغ االنفاق‬ ‫الصحي عام ‪ 2013‬ما يزيد عن ‪ 1.3‬مليار دوالر حيث كان عام ‪2000‬م أقل من ‪ 400‬مليون دوالر‪ .‬هذه احلقائق‬ ‫حفزت الباحث على دراسة نية الشعب الفلسطيين حنو قبول الضرائب البيئية كوسيلة حمتمل ملكافحة التلوث‪ .‬استخدم‬ ‫الباحث عدة عوامل لتحقيق هذا اهلدف متثلت يف دراسة مدى اعتقاد الفلسطيني ن حول عواقب التغي املناخي واعتقادهم‬ ‫حول التأثيات املتوقعة للضرائب البيئية وموقفهم من تبين الضرائب البيئية‪ .‬نظرية السلوك املخطط هي اخللفية النظرية هلذه‬ ‫الدراسة‪ .‬أُجنز هذا البحث يف الضفة الغربية يف فلسط ن ابستخدام االستبيان االلكرتوين‪ .‬خلصت الدراسة إىل أن‬ ‫الفلسطيني ن لديهم الوعي الكايف حول العواقب املتوقعة للتغي املناخي وهم يعتقدون أن التغي املناخي قد يؤثر سلبا على‬ ‫حياهتم وكذلك على احليواانت والنبااتت‪ .‬يعتقد الفلسطينيون أن الضرائب البيئية سوف تؤدي إىل ختفيض كمية التلوث‬ ‫مما يؤدي يف النهاية إىل حتس ن حياهتم بشكل أفضل‪ .‬لدى الفلسطيني ن نية اجيابية حنو تبين الضرائب البيئية حيث أن‬ ‫‪ .743‬منهم ينوون تبين الضريبة البيئية كضريبة جديدة و ‪ .695‬على شكل زايدة يف الضرائب احلالية إذا كانوا متأكدين‬ ‫من أن إيراد هذه الضريبة سوف يستخدم حلماية البيئة‪ .‬أخيار‪ ،‬اجلنس و العمر و املستوى الدراسي والوظيفة ومستوى‬ ‫الدخل و احلالة االجتماعية و مكان السكن هي العوامل االجتماعية و االقتصادية و الدميغرافية اليت استخدمت يف هذه‬ ‫الدراسة كعوامل حتكم‪ .‬تب ن ان هذه العوامل ال تؤثر جوهراي على نية الفلسطيني ن حنو تبين الضرائب البيئية‪.‬‬

‫‪iii‬‬

APPROVAL PAGE

I certify that I have supervised and read this study and that in my opinion, it conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Master of Science in Accounting.

...……..………………………… Siti Normala Sheikh Obid Supervisor I certify that I have read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Master of Science in Accounting.

.....……………………………… Khadijah Mohd Isa Examiner

.....……………………………… Salwa Hana Yussof Examiner This dissertation was submitted to the Department of Accounting and is accepted as a partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Accounting.

..………………………………… Muslim Har Sani Mohamad Head, Department of Accounting This dissertation was submitted to the Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences and is accepted as a partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Accounting. .………………………………… Maliah Sulaiman Dean, Kulliyah of Economics and Management Science

iv

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or currently submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.

Mohammed M. S. Shaheen

Signature……………………………….

Date……………………….

v

RRAG

INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

DECLARATI ON OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH FACTORS AFFECTING PALESTINIANS’ INTENTION TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL TAX IMPLEMENTATION I declare that the copy right holder of this dissertation are jointly owned by the student and IIUM Copyright © 2016 by Mohammed M. S. Shaheen and International Islamic University Malaysia. All rights reserved.

No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder except as provided below 1.

Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement.

2.

IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.

3.

The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieved system and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other universities and research libraries.

By signing this form, I acknowledged that I have read and understand the IIUM Intellectual Property Right and Commercialization policy.

Affirmed by Mohammed M. S. Shaheen.

……………………………. Signature

...…..……………….. Date

vi

To who creates me in the best situation Almighty Allah, to my beloved parents, siblings, and granny I dedicate this invaluable research

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The best words for any beginning are in the name of Allah the most gracious and the most merciful. All praises be to Allah (S.W.T) and peace to be upon Prophet Muhammad the guidance of the humanity to the right way. For ease my way in completing this dissertation with a good Iman, health, and knowledge. I would like to take this opportunity to express my utmost appreciation to who helped and guided me throughout the way of achieving this work Associate Professor Dr. Siti Normala Sheikh Obid. She was the one who opened the door of knowledge and research for me, especially in taxation field. Her efforts in helping other students and me were written from the words of gold in our minds. All we can say for you Dr Siti THANK YOU for everything. In addition, a profound gratitude must be given to Associate Professor Dr. Fatima Abdul Hamid for her invaluable efforts in helping me in finalizing this research, which could not be achieved without her assistance. Moreover, valuable comments were received from the examiners, Assistant Professor Dr. Khadijah Mohd Isa and Assistant Professor Dr. Salwa Hana Yussof. Thus, much thanks must be given to them as well. Also, great and special thanks to my parents, teachers Monther Sa’adi Shaheen and Nuha Mahmoud Shaheen, for their unlimited support. I want to say for them, not only your students owe their success to you but also your children Ala’a, Wala’a, Rewa’a, Ahmad, Sa’adi, Amer, and me. Finally, may Allah bless you and protect your life. Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude to all the lecturers in the Department of Accounting for their great efforts for providing the best possible education for all their students. My friends in the Department of Accounting, in IIUM, and in whole Malaysia thank you very much for your invaluable support and Doa’a. The best conclusion of this acknowledgement is thanking all the IIUM staff for helping me to overcome the obstacles that I faced.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract…………………………………………………………………… Abstract in Arabic………………………………………………………… Approval Page……………………………………………………………. Declaration……………………………………………………………….. Copyright Page…………………………………………………………… Dedication………………………………………………………………… Acknowledgements……………………………………………………….. Table of Contents…………………………………………………………. List of Tables……………………………………………………………… List of Figures…………………………………………………………….. List of Abbreviations…..………………………………………………….

ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix xiii xv xvi

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION………………………………..… 1.0 Introduction……………………………………………………. 1.1 Background of the Study…………………………..................... 1.2 Problem Statement…………………………………………….. 1.3 The Objectives and the Questions of the Study……………….. 1.4 Motivation and Significance of the Study……………………... 1.5 Organization of the Dissertation……………………………….. 1.6 Summary………………………………………………………..

1 1 1 5 8 9 11 12

CHAPTER TWO: OVERVIEW OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION AND THE TAX SYSTEM IN PALESTINE……………. 2.0 Introduction…………………………………………………….. 2.1 General Information……………………………………………. 2.2 The Geographical and Environmental Characteristics of 11111.Palestine…………………………..................................................... 2.3 The Environment and the Causes of Pollution in Palestine……. 2.4 The Pollution in Palestine……………………………………… 2.5 The Palestinian Steps towards Pollution Mitigation…………… 2.6 The Taxation System in Palestine ………………………............ 2.7 Summary……………………………………………………….. CHAPTER THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………. 3.0 Introduction…………………………………………………….. 3.1 The Governmental Tools of the Pollution Mitigation………….. 3.2 Environmental Tax……………………………………………... 3.3 The Effects of the Environmental Tax…………………………. 3.3.1 The Effects of the Environmental Tax on the Environment 3.3.2 The Effects of Motor Vehicle Tax……………………….. 3.3.3 The Effects of the Environmental Tax on Households and 11111111.Social Welfare………………………………………………….

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13 13 13 14 15 17 20 24 28 30 30 30 32 33 33 35 37

3.3.4 The Effects of the Environmental Tax on the Economic 11111111.Sector…………………………………………………………... 3.3.4.1 Shifting Taxes……………………………………. 3.3.4.2 Exemptions from Environmental Tax……………. 3.3.4.3 Emission Trading Schemes……………………….. 3.3.4.4 Consumers’ Behavior and Responsibility Towards the Environment………………………………………….. 3.3.5 The Effects of Carbon Tax on the Emission Inventory...... 3.4 The Factors that Affect Pro-environmental Decisions…………. 3.4.1 Pro-environmental Behavior…………………………..…. 3.4.1.1 The Effects of the Beliefs about the Climate Change Consequences……………………………………. 3.4.1.2 Demographic Factors……………………………... 3.4.1.3 The Effects of the Economic Situation…………… 3.4.1.4 The Effects of Trust………………………………. 3.4.1.5 The Effects of the Political Party…………………. 3.4.1.6 The Effects of Other Factors……………………… 3.5 Literature Gaps…………………………………………………. 3.6 Summary………………………………………………………..

38 41 42 43 44 44 48 48 48 52 57 58 59 60 62 63

CHAPTER FOUR: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES………………………………………………………........ 4.0 Introduction…………………………………………….............. 4.1 Theory of Planned Behavior……………………………………. 4.1.1 Behavior Beliefs and Attitudes………………………..….. 4.1.2 Normative Beliefs and Subjective Norms………………… 4.1.3 Control Beliefs and Perceived Behavior Control………… 4.1.4 Intention………………………………………………….. 4.1.5 Behavior………………………………………………….. 4.2 Application of TPB in Several Fields…………………………… 4.3 Application of TPB in Pro-environmental Research……………. 4.4 Application of TPB in Tax Research…………………………… 4.5 Conceptual Framework………………………………………… 4.6 Hypotheses Development………………………………………. 4.6.1 Climate Change…………………………………………... 4.6.2 The Beliefs about the Potential Impact of the ETI……….. 4.6.3 Attitude towards ETI…………………………................... 4.7 The Control Variables………………………………………….. 4.8 Summary………………………………………………………..

65 65 65 67 67 68 68 69 69 70 71 71 76 76 78 79 81 82

CHAPTER FIVE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY………………….. 5.0 Introduction…………………………………………….............. 5.1 The Nature of the Study………………………………………… 5.2 The Selection of the Sample……………………………………. 5.3 The Building of the Research Instrument……………………….. 5.4 Online Survey…………………………………………………...

84 84 84 85 86 91

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5.5 Using Facebook in the Scientific Research…………………….. 5.6 Steps Taken After Questionnaire Development………….…….. 5.7 The Variables of the Study……………………………………… 5.7.1 Dependent Variable……………………………………..... 5.7.2 Independents and Mediating Variables…………………… 5.7.2.1 The First Independent Variable……………………… 5.7.2.2 The Second Independent Variable…………………… 5.7.2.3 The Mediating Variable……………………………... 5.7.3 Control Variables………………………………………… 5.8 The Statistical Tests…………………………………................. 5.8.1 Descriptive Statistics……………………………………... 5.8.2 Correlation………………………………………………... 5.8.3 T-test and Anova Analysis……………………………….. 5.8.4 Regression Analysis…………………………………….... 5.9 Summary………………………………………………………..

98 99 101 101 102 102 103 104 105 106 106 106 107 108 111

CHAPTER SIX: DATA ANALYSIS AND THE RESULTS………….. 6.0 Introduction…………………………………………………….. 6.1 Descriptive Statistics…………………………………………… 6.1.1 The Analysis of the Demographic Data………………..… 6.1.2 The Analysis of the Climate Change Beliefs……………... 6.1.3 The Analysis of the Beliefs about the ET Impacts………… 6.1.4 The Analysis of the Attitude towards ETI………………… 6.1.5 The Analysis of the Intention towards ETI………………. 6.2 Validity and Reliability………………………………………… 6.3 The Distribution of the Data…………………………………..... 6.4 Correlation ……………………………………………………... 6.5 T-test and ANOVA Analysis…………………………………… 6.5.1 The Effects of Gender on the Intention towards ETI…….. 6.5.2 The Effects of Age on the Intention towards ETI………… 6.5.3 The Effects of the Level of Education on the Intention towards ETI…………………………………………………….. 6.5.4 The Effects of the Occupation on the Intention towards ETI 6.5.5 The Effects of Income on the Intention towards ETI…….. 6.5.6 The Effects of Marital Status on the Intention towards ETI 6.5.7 The Effects of Place of residence on the Intention towards ETI……………………………………………………………... 6.6 Regression Analysis ………………………………………….... 6.6.1 Testing the Hypotheses and the Control Variables………. 6.6.2 Testing the Mediation Relationship in the Model………… 6.7 Discussion of Results…………………………………………… 6.7.1 Discussion the Independent, Mediating, and Dependent Variables……………………………………………………….. 6.7.2 Discussion the Control Variables………………………... 6.7 Summary………………………………………………………..

112 112 112 113 115 117 119 122 123 125 126 129 130 131

xi

131 132 133 134 134 135 137 142 146 146 153 159

CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION………………………………….. 7.0 Introduction……………………………………………............. 7.1 Summary of the Study…………………………………………. 7.2 Implication and Contribution of the Study…………………….. 7.3 Limitation of the Study………………………………………… 7.4 Future Research………………………………………………... 7.5 Summary……………………………………………………….

161 161 161 163 166 167 167

REFERENCES………………………………………………………........ APPENDIX 1: THE SOURCES OF QUESTIONS…………………..…… APPENDIX 2: ENGLISH QUESTIONNAIRE…………………………… APPENDIX 3: ARABIC QUESTIONNAIRE……..………………………

169 182 185 191

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LISTS OF TABLES

Table No.

Page No.

1.1

Problem statement and research’s objectives and questions

9

2.1

The changing in the income tax law in Palestine

27

3.1

The countries that have active carbon taxes

45

6.1

The results of the descriptive statistics

114

6.2

Summary of the statements’ scores in the climate change section

115

6.3

Summary of the statements’ scores in the beliefs about the potential impacts of the ETI section

118

6.4

Summary of the statements’ scores in the attitude towards ETI section

120

6.5

Summary of the statements’ scores in the intention towards ETI section

122

6.6

Results of the validity

124

6.7

Person correlation

127

6.8

The difference between gender towards intention of ETI

130

6.9

The difference between age group towards intention of ETI

131

6.10

The difference between level of education group towards intention of ETI

132

6.11

The difference between occupation group towards intention of ETI

133

6.12

The difference between income group towards intention of ETI

133

6.13

The difference between marital status group towards intention of ETI

134

6.14

The difference between place of residence group towards intention of ETI

135

6.15

The relationship between the independent variables and the mediating variable

138

6.16

The relationship between the mediating, dependent, and control variables

139

6.17

The results of the multiple regression analysis

141

6.18

The results of the hierarchical multiple regression

143

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Table No. 6.19

Page No. Summary of the results of the study

xiv

160

LISTS OF FIGURES

Figure No.

Page No.

2.1

The amount of emissions that were generated from 20062011

18

2.2

The numbers of cars from 2010 until 2013

19

2.3

The spending on the health from 2000-2013

20

4.1

The theory of planned behavior

66

4.2

The relationship between behavioral beliefs, attitude, and intention

72

4.3

The conceptual framework

76

6.1

The histogram of the data distribution from regression results

136

6.2

The scatterplot of the outliers from regression results

137

6.3

The relationship between the independent, mediating, and dependent variable generally

145

xv

LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS

ET

Environmental tax

ETI

Environmental tax implementation

PA

Palestinian authority

CO2

Carbon dioxide

CT

Carbon tax

TPB

Theory of planned behavior

PEB

Pro-environmental behavior

WTP

Willingness to pay

SPSS

Statistical package for social sciences

MOT

Ministry of transportation

OECD

Organization of economic cooperation and development

PCBS

Palestinian central bureau statistic

xvi

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter is devoted to provide an overview on the components of the current study. It begins by pointing out the historical and scientific background of the study, followed by highlighting the problem statement. Then, both the research objectives and questions will be addressed accordingly. Its motivations and significance will be discussed as well. Finally, the organization of this research and chapter summary will be presented.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY In today’s business world, the environment and natural resources are sacrificed in pursuit of material gains. The consequences of these business activities are the climate change and the inevitable effects on human life (Al-Amin, Jaafar, & Siwar, 2010), such as 47 billion tons of emissions were produced from multiple sources of pollution (Andrew, Kaidonis, & Andrew, 2010), 300,000 people are killed per year, 325 million humans are severely affected, 4 billion inhabitants are left vulnerable, half a billion humans are at extreme risk, and the losses of social welfare were valued at US$125 billion per year globally (Global Humanitarian Forum, 2009). 70 billion tons of emissions is projected to be emitted in 2030 (Andrew et al., 2010) and the earth’s temperature will increase by 2-4 degrees by the next century (Al-Amin et al., 2010). Due to the seriousness of the climate change effects, governments and social organizations are constantly looking for new ways to mitigate this problem. Initially, information schemes and voluntary programs were used by governments to create public awareness on the hazards of pollution and environmental destruction. However,

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failure of these schemes and programs (Luckin, 2000) resulted in governments’ implementing Pigou’s method of reducing environmental harm, culminating in environmental taxes. Pigou’s initiative found that in the first decades of the 20th century, particularly in 1920, there was a huge haze in London’s sky, and as an economist, Arthur Pigou suggested that taxes be used to mitigate the pollution (Brandt & Svendsen, 2014). This is the first corrective tax that deals with negative environmental externalities (Sandmo, 2011). Pigou’s idea is that these externalities reduces the cost of the products to levels that are lower than the social cost, and he is of the opinion that the polluters should take into account the environmental costs in the production of their goods, which constitute a form of social cost (Brandt & Svendsen, 2014). Moreover, Bovenberg and Goulder (1996) supported Pigou’s argument that any economic system should be made up of two types of taxes; environmental (corrective) and conventional. The UK Parliament (2013) emphasized this by stating: “Where individual polluters fail to take full account of the impact of their actions on the environment, the result may be a level of pollution that society as a whole considers inappropriate. Taxes offer one potential solution: by using taxation to augment the private costs of pollution, polluters can be forced to confront the full social costs of their actions” From 1920 and 1928, despite Pigou efforts, environmental taxes (ET) were not implemented for quite some time. It was only in the 1960s that the debate on the significance of environmental policy is actively taken up. During the 1970s, Meda, an economist, tried to establish the basic fundamentals of environmental economics (Sandmo, 2011). As a result of this debate, governments began to impose selected environmental policies. However, during the 1970s and 1980s, all of these policies were just regulations, such as information schemes, voluntary programs, some incentives of

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factories for recycling their waste, or rewards for each company that is capable of mitigating environmental pollution. Despite the introduction of many incentives, pollution remains a global problem (Luckin, 2000). International efforts continue in its promotion of the implementation of an effective pro-environmental policy. Several conferences had been held to discuss environmental pollution, at Kyoto, San Francisco, New Jersey, and Copenhagen (Ivanova & Tranter, 2008; Meng, Siriwardana, & McNeill, 2012). Therefore, between 1987 and 1994, at least 50 percent of the organization of economic cooperation and development countries levied environmental taxes (Ekins, 1999). Based on Luckin (1999), European countries only began implementing ET in the past few years of the final decades of the 20th century. In conjunction with the implementation of ET, factors that influence the success of this tool in the context of environmental policies are currently being researched. Since the 1970s, environmental literature has focused on these factors. The main two fields are socio-demographic factors (gender, age, and marital status) and psychological aspects (values and beliefs) (Pisano, Del, & Hidalgo, 2014). As part of the psychological context, citizens’ support has been considered as the main factor of success to environmental policies, and is the main focus of scientists. Rasool and Ogunbode (2015) pointed out that a government can best regulate environmental pollution, but these regulations should take into account citizens’ perception in order to guarantee that it actually works. Unfortunately, the underlying reasons for public support are still hidden (Inglehart, 1995). Citizens’ support is important when imposing ET, because the tax works by increasing the cost of non-environmentally friendly products to discourage its production and consumption (Bazin, Ballet, & Touahri, 2004). Moreover, several

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environmental problems are nowadays, to a certain extent, linked, whether directly or indirectly, to the daily actions of people. Consumption, travel, using energy in houses, and waste disposal are activities that have a significant impact on the environment (Nordlund & Garvill, 2002). Thus, the cost of living could increase; hence eliciting their perception towards such tax as being salient. In this vein, unlike traditional catastrophes, laypeople cannot directly identify the nature of environmental problems (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015). So, it will be difficult for governments to convince the people to accept any environmental policy that might incur extra costs. Extra effort and concerted action with multiple parties within the society is crucial and required if the people’s perception are to be changed. Several studies were conducted for the purpose of exploring people’s awareness on the influence of climate changes. The level of awareness in general was found to be good, with most people experiencing some of its effects for example, temperature increasing (Carlsson et al., 2012). Surprisingly, even if people want to act proenvironmentally, some of them require external encouragements, which is especially effective if it is made mandatory (Lorenzoni, Nicholson-Cole, & Whitmarsh, 2007). Therefore, a better understanding of environmental attitudes among different nations with the application of several theoretical frameworks is regarded as important. Kollmuss and Agyeman (2002) stated that a large number of theoretical frameworks have been developed, and bigger numbers of studies have been conducted to understand the determinants of human perceptions. However, the ambiguity of what constitute proenvironmental behavior (PEB) and why people act pro-environment, as well as barriers towards PEB remains a mystery. Environmental sociologists and psychologists used self-reported behavior, environmental behavior intention, political predictor, and the demographic factor to

4

enable further understanding of environmental decisions (Clements, Mccright, Dietz, & Marquart-pyatt, 2015). One of the major environmental decisions is the willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental protection. This field was the focus of many researchers in several context and different situations (These studies are discussed in Chapter 3). Ramdas and Mohamed (2014) defined WTP as “an economical method applied to calculate the amount that stakeholders are willing to pay in monetary amount to maintain the changes in quantity and rehabilitation in the quality of environmental attributes”. The weakness side of the WTP literature is its generalization. The validity and usefulness of studying general PEB was raised by many researchers, as they believe that it is better to study specific behaviors (Nordlunsd & Garvill, 2002). This study aims to analyze one type of PEB, which is ET, by analyzing the factors that affect Palestinian intentions towards the implementation of environmental taxation (ETI). Their awareness about the consequences of climate change and their beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI, as well as their attitude towards ETI, are vehicles used by researchers to achieve the goal of this study.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT The consequences of climate change can be avoided if public engagement is successful. Public engagement helps the people understand governmental policies, which will render them more receptive towards supporting it (Maibach, Leiserowitz, RoserRenouf, & Mertz, 2011). Understanding an object is essential towards identifying the problem (Barry & Proops, 1999). This understanding and support will ultimately result in the national reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and improve daily behaviors on reducing pollution (Ivanova & Tranter, 2008). It is also crucial towards a successful policy, stemming from the idea that the environmental problems are the

5

responsibility of all residents (could be a moral responsibility), and the government should carry out its responsibility using its invested statutory power (Barry & Proops, 1999). Therefore, understanding citizens’ preferences and factors contributing to its shaping is necessary (Torgler & García-Valiñas, 2007). Furthermore, ecological economists are good in identifying problems and theoretically predicting its potential impact. But for the policy (that could tackle this problem), the implementation effort is lacking (Ivanova & Tranter, 2008). Thus, the main objective of this study is to deal with the implementation problem and empirically elicit Palestinian intention towards ETI. Choosing Palestine was a strategic choice; it is currently experiencing rapid increase of environmental pollution (see chapter two for greater information), represents a sample of an Arab region, due to the lack of the environmental research in this particular geographical area (see chapter three for greater information). In line with the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the intention to perform certain behavior requires developing attitudes that help shape intentions. Based on AlRabaani and Al-Mekhlaf (2009), developing pro-environmental attitudes will promote eco-friendly behavior that will lead to the elimination of severe environmental problems. Furthermore, requesting an eco-friendly good can be assessed by evaluating the WTP for it (Ivanova & Tranter, 2004). This is in line with another objective of this study, aiming to evaluate Palestinian attitude towards ETI as a tool of proenvironmental policies that could result in socio-economic consequences. Economic policies around the world have focused on short-term utilization of natural resources, with limited attention on sustainability and the environment. Severe environmental and biodiversity losses are the result of these policies (Ogunbode & Arnold, 2012). The world continued this as a way of dealing with nature, up till the

6

point it becomes the most challenging problem to our community (Dienes, 2015). A clear consensus from scientists is that the CO2 emission level is too high (Bornstein, Lanz, & Lausanne, 2005). As a moral responsibility (Gifford & Nilsson, 2014), humans should commit towards mitigating these effects. Despite the fact that most people are aware of environmental pollution and its effects, the level of engagement on pro-environmental actions is negligible (Gifford, 2011). Some researchers argued that the level of awareness towards issues associated with climate change is a good predictor for engaging in an eco-friendly behavior (Clements et al., 2015). Moreover, the Environmental Quality Authority (EQA) (2012b, 2013) stated that Palestine suffers directly from the effects of climate change, and laws and regulations protecting nature should be imposed. So, there is a need for more research that could further our understanding of the determinants of environmental concerns (Nawrotzki, Guedes, & Carmo, 2014). Thus, the first predictor of the Palestinians’ intention towards ETI is directly linked to this problem, which culminated in attempts to investigate the relationship between the awareness of climate change issues and the attitude towards ETI among Palestinian. Finally, TPB assumes that the beliefs about the likelihood consequences of a certain behavior will either motivate or demotivate someone towards doing it. In a similar vein, the potential impact of adopting any pro-environment policy will affect the people’s attitude towards performing it (Kim, Schmöcker, Fujii, & Noland, 2013). Furthermore, the lack of empirical research on the resistance of ETI (Dunne & Clinch, 2003) that lead to provision of insufficient information for decision-makers (Duan, YanLi, & Yan, 2014) resulted in a second predictor of the intention towards ETI, which examines the Palestinian beliefs about the potential impacts of the ETI and how it influences their attitude towards ETI.

7

1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS The essential goal of this study is to investigate Palestinian intention towards ETI. To attain that goal, the researcher analyzed Palestinian beliefs about the consequences of climate change and its effect on their attitude towards ETI. Palestinian beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI and how people are assessing the expected consequences of ETI on their attitudes in the context of ETI. Following TPB’s assumption that the beliefs will affect intention via attitude, this study constructed another objective, which is to investigate Palestinians’ attitude towards ETI and how it influences their intention towards ETI. Following TPB’s framework, the researcher rearranged the objectives of the study to suit TPB’s construction by studying the following: 1- To investigate the influence of Palestinian beliefs about the consequences of climate change on their attitude towards ETI. 2- To investigate the influence of Palestinian beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI on their attitude towards ETI. 3- To examine the influence of Palestinian attitudes towards ETI upon their intention towards ETI. 4- To examine Palestinian intentions towards ETI in the event of such a scenario. In order to realize these objectives, the researcher tailored the following research questions: 1- Do Palestinian beliefs about the consequences of climate change influence their attitude towards ETI? 2- Do Palestinian beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI influence their attitudes towards ETI? 3- Do Palestinian attitudes towards ETI influence their intentions?

8

4- Do Palestinians intend to implement ET in the event of such a scenario? Table 1.1 clarify the aforementioned issues and display a coherent problem statement, the research objectives and questions:

Table 1.1 Problem statement and research’s objectives and questions Problem statement The issue of the role of the awareness about the climate change consequences and how it affects a PEB. The problem of assessing ET impact and how it affects a PEB.

The importance of developing a proenvironmental attitude in shaping the PEB. The factors that shaping the public intention towards accepting the environmental policies.

Research’s objectives To investigate the influence of Palestinian beliefs about the consequences of climate change on their attitude towards ETI. To investigate the influence of Palestinian beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI on their attitude towards ETI. To examine the influence of Palestinian attitudes towards ETI upon their intention towards ETI. To examine Palestinian intentions towards ETI in the event of such a scenario.

Research’s questions Do Palestinian beliefs about the consequences of climate change influence their attitude towards ETI? Do Palestinian beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI influence their attitudes towards ETI? Do Palestinian attitudes towards ETI influence their intentions? Do Palestinians intend to implement ET in the event of such a scenario?

1.4 MOTIVATION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY There is a lack of research regarding of the adoption of pro-environmental policies in developing countries, as pointed out by Inglehart (1995), Ogunbode and Arnold (2012), and Rasool and Ogunbode (2015), specifically in the Arab region as noted by the researcher. To the best of the researcher knowledge, there was a study conducted in the Sultanate Oman by Al-Rabaani and Al-Mekhlaf (2009), involving university students. The Arab region is made up of 22 countries, having a population of 359 million people (Mirkin, 2010). It is therefore important to elicit peoples’ opinion on environmental

9

protection tools, specifically their WTP. Moreover, studies within the context of the developed countries resulted in differing outcomes. Even cross-national studies resulted in different conclusions1. Hence, studying regions that have received limited coverage is a promising avenue, which will result in the expansion of theoretical knowledge. In the context of this study, Palestine was selected as a sample. According to Islamic beliefs, Allah created the world, and it is the responsibility of the people, as His trustee, to protect it. Koranic exhortations and Hadiths support this. Some of the verses pertaining to this subject are “Do no mischief on the earth, after it hath been set in order (7:56); The earth We have spread out “like a carpet” set thereon mountains firm and immovable, and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance (15:19); do no evil nor mischief on the face of the earth (2:60). Also, the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says cleanliness is next to godliness (Altermethy). Thus, searching for ways to protect nature is regarded as obeying the commandment of the Almighty. Palestine is geographically very small as a result of the occupation, measuring only 15 percent from its original 27, 000 square kilometer (PCBS, 2012). This small area necessitate that it be kept clean at all times. Emissions are increasing annually; for example, the CO2 emissions in 2010 and 2011 were 4,236,633 tons and 4,351,336 tons, respectively2 (PCBS, 2012). This study will provide a primary indication for the regulators in Palestine pertaining to the people’s intention towards ETI in the context of taxes; the level of citizen’s awareness about the climate change consequences; and the people’s assessment of the ET and how it affect their respective attitudes if implemented. Ultimately, the imposition of ET could prove to be quite useful towards saving human lives and maintaining a suitable environment for future generations.

1 2

Greater details are addressed in the third chapter More details about the pollution in Palestine are addressed in the next chapter

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1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE DISSERTATION The organization of the dissertation is divided into several chapters. Chapter one, introduction. This chapter discusses the study’s background, problem statement, objectives, questions, motivations, and significance. Chapter two, an overview of the environmental situation and taxation system in Palestine. This chapter extensively explains the environmental situation in Palestine and main environmental problems that form a challenge to the lives of the residents. Moreover, adequate illustration about the tax system in Palestine, with a brief tax history, will be provided. Chapter three, literature review. The aim of this chapter is to provide historical and critical elaborations of previous literature. The first half defines environmental taxes, types, effects, and evolution, as well as some recent approaches to tackle the downsides of the environmental taxes. In the second half of this chapter, more details are provided about the factors that affect people’s perception towards implementing any pro-environment policy. Seeking comprehensiveness behind greater information will be detailed in this chapter. Chapter four, theoretical framework and hypotheses development. This chapter provides the theoretical background of the study and the development of both the study’s conceptual framework and hypotheses. Chapter five, methodology. In this chapter, the research’s instrument and procedures that ensure the work remains professional are addressed alongside the sample size and data analyses. Chapter six, data analysis and the results. In this chapter, the results are highlighted and compared to prior literature. Chapter seven, conclusion. This chapter summarizes the study, its limitations, and the horizons of future research.

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1.6 SUMMARY This chapter introduces the study by highlighting the historical background on the establishment of ET and its evolution, as well as the factors that contribute towards shaping people’s behaviors vis-à-vis the implementation of eco-friendly policies. Followed by the problem statement, research objectives and questions, and its motivations and significance. Addressing the organization of the dissertation concludes this chapter, and the next chapter will detail the environmental situation and the tax system of Palestine.

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CHAPTER TWO OVERVIEW OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION AND TAXATION SYSTEM IN PALESTINE

2.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter will begin with the provision of general information on the historical, geographical, and political situation in Palestine, followed by a brief illustration of the characteristics of the geographical and environmental situations. The third section contains detailed illustration regarding pollution in Palestine. The fourth section details the steps taken to alleviate pollution in the context of Palestine, followed by a discussion about the tax history of Palestine. Summarization of its content will conclude this chapter.

2.1 GENERAL INFORMATION A historical, geographical, and political glance about Palestine is necessary to understand its environmental situation. Palestine is an Arab country located at the far west of Asia and east of the Mediterranean, in the geographic area called the Middle East. After the First World War and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine was occupied by Britain as a colony. When the British left Palestine, the Zionist colonized the land then establishing a state called Israel. As a result of the 1948 War, the Zionist occupied 20,743 square kilometer (around 77 percent) from the original size of Palestine, which is 27,000 square kilometer. The Zionists occupied the rest of Palestine, which includes West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, after the 1967 War. The Zionist government subsequently signed an agreement with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993, in Oslo, Norway. Based on that agreement, the PLO

13

recognized Israel’s right to live within the land that it has occupied since 1948, while the Zionist government promised the PLO a country within the land that has been occupied since 1967. Unfortunately, that promise remains unfulfilled today.

2.2 THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERICTICS OF PALESTINE The West Bank and Gaza Strip (hereafter call Palestine), measuring 5,879 square kilometer and 378 square kilometer, respectively, possess diversified geographical and environmental attributes. Based on the Environmental Quality Authority (2012a) report, these patterns are: i.

The Jordan Valley: With total size 400 square kilometer located on the east part of the West Bank, at a height of -395 meter under sea level until 90 meter above sea level. This area is subtropical, with an annual rainfall of 100-200 millimeter. It is an intensive agricultural production area, producing bananas, dates, citrus, grapes, medicinal herbs, and vegetables.

ii.

Eastern slopes: Stretches from the north of the West Bank up till the south, measuring between 10-20 kilometer and high 0- 800 meter above the sea level, with an area of 1,500 square kilometer. This area is located between the Jordan Valley and the middle-height area, and characterized by a severe decline and lack of rain, at 150-300 millimeter per year, and the lack of vegetation, due to overgrazing. It is classified as a semi-arid or desert area.

iii.

Middle-height area: Characterized as a mountainous and hilly area. It constitutes the bulk of the West Bank. Its length is nearly 120 kilometer, 50 kilometer wide, and measures 400-1020 meter above sea level. The annual precipitation ranges between 300 millimeter per year in the south, and 600 millimeter per year in the

14

north. The most important crops grown in this region are olives, almonds, and vegetables and forage crops. iv.

Semi-coastal region: It is a narrow strip that is 60 kilometer long and 2-12 kilometer wide, representing the smallest area in the region, at 100-300 meter above sea level. Rainfall ranged of 400-700 millimeter per year, and its main crops are olive, almond trees, and vegetables.

v.

Coastal region: This area is located in the Gaza Strip, and reaches a height of approximately 40 meter above sea level. Annual rainfall rates ranged from 200400 millimeter annually. The main crops are vegetables, flowers, citrus fruits, almonds, dates, and guava.

2.3 THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE CAUSES OF POLLUTION IN PALESTINE After addressing the main geographical and environmental characteristics, the definition of the ‘environment’ based on the Environmental Act number 7 for 1999 is highlighted. ‘Environment’ is a biosphere that includes living organisms and the contents of air, water, soil, and what the facilities their subsequent interactions (Palestinian Authority, 1999). According to the law, the environment consists of ground, water, and air. Based on this definition, the sector covers everything related to emissions, solid waste, and liquid waste of all kinds, whether household or industrial, with regard to their legislation, instructions, management plans, treatment, disposal, recycling, and reuse. The sector also includes hazardous chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Thus, the environmental sector is broad and sprawling. It must be emphasized that any defect in an ecosystem could be a disaster to human life and cause problems to

15

both man and nature (EQA, 2013). Scientific and medical research pointed out that the risks to different environments in the world are caused by industrial waste, scientific experiments, deforestation to exploit the land, pollution of drinking water from industrial waste, atmosphere pollution, the lack of full health care, and climate change. Climate change generates many natural disasters that considered detrimental to the quality of life (Aqruq, 2014). The environment in Palestine suffers from many problems (detailed in the next section). Several factors that contribute to this include its geographical location, exposure to drought, and land degradation and desertification in most areas, especially in the eastern slopes (EQA, 2012a). The absence of the executive power of the legislation; the lack of environmental awareness and resource conservation among Palestinians, and irrational uses that result in depletion greatly reduced the resource ability to regenerate and continuity (EQA, 2012b). The succession of rulers of the Palestinian territories over the last century, especially since 1967, resulted in the suffrage of Palestine natural resources from attrition, confiscation, non-sustainability, and misuse by the Israeli occupation authorities (EQA, 2012a). Moreover, the occupation created irregularities in the ecosystem via its control over resources and the lack of access to the Palestinian Authority (EQA, 2013). Environmental protection faces stiff opposition from industrial activities, as this would mean increased operating costs. Moreover, the environmental sector is intertwined with other sectors, as it cannot function alone, especially in economic and social aspects. The interaction between the three sectors will result in sustainable development, so changes must be influential upon these sectors as a whole as opposed to only changing one of them at a time. Finally, the expected change must involve a change in the laws and policies to cope with environmental pollution (EQA, 2013).

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2.4 THE POLLUTION IN PALESTINE Pollution in Palestine is a real problem, and its effect is becoming increasingly greater. There are many types of pollution that are prevalent in Palestine, due to factors such as the mode of production and consumption pursuing a far-sustainability, and continued increase in the per capita share of the fuel, leading to an increase in overall energy consumption. Increasing number of private cars and household and industrial waste result in increased pollution as well (EQA, 2013). Emissions are seeing an annual increase year after year from sources such as combustion fuel, energy, and agricultural activities. Statistics quoted from the Palestinian Central Bureau Statistics (PCBS) and Ministry of Transportation (MOT) from different years pointed out activities associated with pollution. Emissions from combustion fuel and the usage of electricity remain major contributors to pollution, while other activities, although responsible for pollution, remains comparatively minor. This is rather evident from looking at any environmental report. This situation mirrors the situation in Palestine, and is shown in Figure 2.1, highlighting the amount of emission from three categories of energy and fuel, agriculture, and solid waste for the period within 2006 until 2011.

17

4000000 3493788

3500000 2797897

3000000 2669906

Emissions by ton

3513580

2497081 2500000

2564581

Fuel & energy

2000000

Agriculture

1500000

Waste 1000000 500000

691650 162720

630011

599781

166650

574794

560775 182070

177840

170560

651136 186620

0 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

The period of generating

Source: PCBS (2014). Figure 2.1 The amount of emissions that were generated from 2006-2011 Source: PCBS (2014)

The amount of emissions from solid waste were increasing throughout the period, ranging between 4-5 percent from overall emissions, while the amount of emissions from the agriculture sector were fluctuating, ranging between 13-19 percent from the overall emissions. Finally, the amount of emissions from the combustion fuel and usage of electricity were sharply increasing for that period, ranging between 75-82 percent from the overall emissions. The high number of emissions from fuel and energy reflects their extensive and intensive consumption. PCBS (2010, 2012) stated that the electricity consumption increased from 4,158,848 MWH in 2010, to 4,621,686 MWH in 2011. Simultaneously, the consumption from diesel and gasoline increased as well, from 475,947 L to 539,112 L, and from 172,190 L to 181,334 L, respectively. This increase in fuel consumption, especially diesel and gasoline, could be a direct reflection of the increased number of cars. Based on the MOT (2014), the number of cars did increase in Palestine, as shown in Figure 2.2.

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300,000 266,556 249,600

250,000 200,000

275,677

194,702

150,000

total cars

100,000 50,000 0 2010

2011

2012

2013

Source: MOT (2014) Figure 2.2 The numbers of cars from 2010 until 2013 Source: MOT (2014)

Based on MOT, at least 40 percent of emissions were generated from motor vehicles. The contribution of motor vehicles to pollution in Palestine is greater than Ireland and the USA, at 36 percent and 30 percent, respectively (Hennessy and Tol, 2011; Crago and Khanna, 2014). The increased emissions, fuel usage, and number of cars could lead to many health and environmental problems (Baranzini, Goldemberg, and Speck, 2000; Ogunbode and Arnold, 2012). The effects may be obvious from increased spending on the environment, from US$62.5 million in 2011, to US$66.8 million in 2012 (PCBS, 2014), and the spending on health as shown in Figure 2.3.

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The amount of spending of thousand USD

1600000 1400000 1200000 1000000 800000 600000 400000 200000 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

The period of spending

Source: PCBS, 2014. Figure 2.3 The spending on the health from 2000-2013 Source: PCBS, 2014

Finally, practices that could increase pollution, such as burning wastes, especially in regions lacking landfills, releases fumes, toxic, and harmful waste gas. This compounds the negative consequences of waste, and poisons the air and the surrounding environment (Aqruq, 2014). Moreover, the severe consequences of irrational consumption of natural resources exaggerate pollution problems. Pollution is the main sources of climate change, and Palestine suffers directly from the effect of climate change. Therefore, laws and regulations that protect nature should be imposed (EQA, 2012b, 2013).

2.5 THE PALESTINIAN STEPS TOWARDS POLLUTION MITIGATION Since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) based on the Oslo agreement, they started to think about the environment and ways that they could alleviate pollution. In 1994, the PA established a department of environmental planning as a part of the

20

Ministry of Planning. Simultaneously, the local authorities established their own respective environmental departments. The duplication of powers caused a lack of determination of responsibilities, as well as the specific terms of reference for decisionmaking in environmental management affairs. In December 1996, a decree law resulted in the establishment of EQA. It is entrusted with all administrative tasks related to the environment. However, all of the environmental departments within the ministries continue their work based on their own plans and programs. In 1998, the Ministry of Environmental Affairs was established, and is currently regarded as the clearing house for environmental affairs in Palestine (The Palestinian Independent Rights Commission for Citizens’, 2005). In December 1999, the PA issued Law number 7 with regards to the environment. The goals of this law are, first, to save the environment from different patterns of pollution. Second, protect the health of the public and their welfare. Third, consider the basis of environment protection in development plans (economic and social) and promote a sturdy growth of the bio-sources in order to protect the right of future generations. Fourth, protect biological diversification, save the regions with environmental sensitivity, and develop regions experiencing environmental damage. Fifth, promote the collection and publication of different environmental information and increase residential consciousness regarding environmental issues (Palestinian Authority, 1999). In 2002, a decree law to transfer the Ministry of Environmental Affairs to the Environment Quality Authority was issued, which gave the new body similar duties and powers to that of a ministry (The Palestinian Independent Rights Commission for Citizens’, 2005). Since then, EQA initiated some strategies to deal with the environmental situation. Some of these strategies will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

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First: The Environmental Strategy 2014-2016: This policy is one of the 23 policy embarked on by various ministries to advance the status of the government in general for 2014 - 2016. This strategy was proposed by the EQA (2013). The goals of this policy are to identify and analyze the environmental situation and its determinants, determine the necessary objectives, indicators, and activities that should be done through the EQA, reach to a point of lesser contamination than the current situation in Palestine, protect the environment and its resources via sustainable and balanced management, promote public awareness and strengthen the behavior of protecting and conserving the environment. To achieve these objectives, three programs have been formed in the following order: A- Preservation of the Environment: This program is aimed at the sustainability of natural resources; cultural; announce and manage the nature reserves; protection and preservation of biodiversity; the marine environment; and the coast from the risks of climate change. This policy also aims to adapt to the effects of climate change, combat desertification, and reduce the effects of environmental disasters, and enhance awareness via environmental education. The budget of this program is NIS 4,248,000. B- Decontamination Program: This program aims to protect Palestinian environment from pollution and ensure a clean and safe environment for its citizens through the application of laws and environmental regulations in the area, while increasing environmental awareness amongst Palestinians and highlight the importance of maintaining natural resources, and conducting control rounds and environmental inspection of the industrial facilities and other related follow-ups. It is also responsible of granting environmental

22

approvals for new projects and cellular broadcasting stations. The budget of this program is NIS 5,664,000. C- Administrative Program: This program helps evaluate support services for the Environmental Authority and assist in the implementation of key programs of the institution. It also assess and follow up on the implementation of financial measures; the administrative and logistics services to the minister's office; the general administration of transport and communications; developing the international relations; internal and external protocols; the efficiency of personnel training; infrastructure services; and procurement. The budget of this program is NIS 4,248,000. Second, the Integrated National Strategy to Combat Desertification: This strategy was drafted and adopted by the EQA (2012a). The main goals of this strategy are raising the institutional, legal, and human capacities to create an enabling policy, because desertification is a multi-dimensional issue, and several organizations are required to interact directly or otherwise for it to be handled. Awareness and trends of the stakeholder needs to be improved in order to maximize the participation and partnership of the public and private sector affected by desertification. The third goal involves the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. The fourth aim improves the efficiency and effectiveness of financial and technical resources that are available to combat desertification, land degradation, and drought. As a result of this strategy, there are currently a total of 127 existing or recently completed projects that dealt with (or are dealing with) desertification problems, land degradation, and drought issues. The collective budget for these projects is US$86 million. Third, the National Strategy to Raise Awareness and Environmental Education 2014-2020: Another strategy was created and implemented by EQA (2012b). The

23

protection of Palestinian environment was amongst the basic tasks entrusted to EQA and other relevant national organizations, all within their respective capabilities. This can be achieved via proper planning based on partnership and coordination at all levels and trends to ensure the successful implementation of tasks and activities that will close gaps and overcome problems. It is also important to adapt milieu with its institutions, community, partners, and those interested in this so that they become aware of environmental realities and their own responsibilities towards their environment. In this context, this national strategy deals with environmental awareness, education, and the media. The major goals of this strategy are to stimulate efficient and effective environmental media in raising the level of environmental consciousness. It also aims to encourage educational curricula, methods, educational activities, and creativity. The development of upscale environmental values and ensuring its practice by community groups is also vital in this context. Finally, this strategy is compelled to use and accept environmental values stipulated in documents of global announcement, taking into account the privacy of Palestinian political, economic, and social context, and experience in preparing for its goals.

2.6 THE TAXATION SYSTEM IN PALESTINE The history of the tax system in Palestine is very old, and has been around for centuries. Since the Middle Ages until the early 20th century, Palestine was under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire (as a part of the Islamic state), and was subjected to tax laws that were prevalent in all states of the Empire. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine was placed under a British Mandate. The Mandate government enacted a property law for 1940 and the Income Tax Act No. 13 of 1947, making them applicable

24

to the whole of Palestine up till 1948 (Takrori, 2014). The Mandate Government imposed taxes based on these laws in an arbitrary and unfair manner in order to pressure Muslim landowners to sell their lands to Jewish immigrants, as they are unable to pay these taxes and their surmounting interests. The money that was collected from the owners of the land does not come back to them, but goes right into the British Treasury, which was subsequently used to resettle Jews in Palestine. Therefore, taxes was a mean used by Britain to displace the Palestinian population from their lands (Alqambaz, 2011). As a result of the 1948 war, the non-occupied areas of Palestine are the West Bank under the tutelage of Jordan, and the Gaza Strip under the tutelage of Egypt. In the West Bank, Jordanian tax laws were adopted. In 1964, the Jordanian government issued a new income tax Act No. 25 of 1964, which included the West Bank. The Gaza Strip continued working based on the property and income tax laws that were previously mentioned, with some modifications made by Egyptian military rulers (Takrori, 2014; Khalaf, 2014). After the 1967 war, the entire Palestine came under Zionist occupation. The occupation decided to maintain tax laws that were applied in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as per the instructions of their respective military governors. Taxes were increased to levels that made them simply unaffordable. They imposed a value-added tax in 1976, and these two regulations were used to blackmail citizens to deal with the occupation, and pressure them to migrate to neighboring countries. The occupation came up with new forms of taxes, such as life tax, imposed on each citizen, which is a form of punishment to them as this tax is imposed on them because they are still alive. This rendered almost everyone taxable. In 1987, during the uprising to resist occupation (Intifada of stones), taxes were used as a resistance tool, where a decision was undertaken to stop paying taxes to the occupation forces by

25

employees resigning from their post in the tax department. The slogan of this period was non-payment of taxes to the occupation is a national duty and resistance (Alqambaz, 2011). The Oslo agreement resulted in the establishment of the PA in 1993. The taxes were stable then, and remained unchanged since the founding of the PA up till today, with the exception of the modification of value added tax3 and Income Tax. Similar to others, the PA approved the tax laws at that time, with little amendments (Takrori, 2014). Customs and excise Act No. 1 of 1962; the law of the land and buildings within the municipal areas law No. 11 of 1954; knowledge tax act of 1955 and the system of knowledge No. 1 of 1956 annexed to it; income tax Act No. 25 of 1964; value-added tax in 1976, are some examples of adopted laws (Takrori, 2014). The PA issued the first income tax law in 2004, then issued another in 2007, effective from 1/1/2008, and a new one in 2011, followed by amendments on January 2012, February 2012, and April 2015. Table 2.1 summarizes some of these major changes to the law governing income tax.

3

It must be similar with the Israeli tax, but Palestinian government can change the rate within two points only (Paris agreement, 1995).

26

Table 2.1 The changing in the income tax law in Palestine Lay people

First layer

Second layer Third layer

Fourth layer Fifth layer

Act no. Decree 17 of law no. 2004 2 of 2008

Decree law no. 8 of 2011

11110000$ 10000$ 40000NIS -8% -5% - 5% 10001- 100014000116000$ 16000$ 80000NIS - 12% - 10% -10% More More More than than than 16000$ 16000$ 80000NIS -16% -15% 15% -------- -------- -----------

Revision on Decree law no. 8 of 2011 date 14/2/2012 140000NIS5% 4000180000NIS10% 80000125000NI S 15%

Revision on Decree law no. 8 of 2011 date 4/4/2015 175000NIS - 5% 75001150000NI S- 10% More than 150000NI S- 15%

125000200000NI S-22.5% More than 200000NI S 30%

More than 12500020% ------------

------------

1125000NI S -15% More than 125000NI S- 20% ------------

Any amount 15% ------------

------------

Any amount 20%

------------

------------

--------

-----------

Any Any amount amount 15% 15% -------- --------

Any amount 15% -----------

Third layer

--------

--------

-----------

Telecom, liens, and monopoly firms A nonresident

--------

--------

-----------

1125000NI S -15% 125000200000NI S-22.5% More than 200000NI S 30% ------------

Any -------amount 16% Any Any amount amount 5% 10%

-----------

------------

Firms First layer

Second layer

Life insurance

--------

Revision on Decree law no. 8 of 2011 date 1/1/2012 140000NIS5% 4000180000NIS10% 80000125000NI S 15%

Any amount 5%

------------

Any Any Any amount 5% amount 5% amount 5%

Source: (Palestinian Authority, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2012, 2015).

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------------

Some rules and regulations regarding environmental charges were previously imposed in Palestine, such as the one in paragraph eight from article 15 of Act no. 1 of 1997 (Takrori, 2014). This paragraph imposed charges on waste, but these charges, covering collection and disposal, are only applicable within city limits. There is an incentive for hybrid cars, where $2500 is subsidized when one is imported. The change from public cars to private when it is past 15 years was made mandatory by law. Private cars that are older than 20 years must undergo official inspection twice a year for a renewed license (EQA, 2011).

2.7 SUMMARY This chapter briefly discussed the historical, political, environmental, and the tax system of Palestine. System changes from the time of the Ottoman Empire to the current PA was also highlighted. The main geographical and environmental characteristics, such as The Jordan Valley, Eastern slopes, Middle-height area, Semi-coastal region, Coastal region were discussed alongside environmental definition and major characteristics based on Act no. 7 of 1999, and the pertaining cause of environmental problems. Section 2.3 details the pollution problems in Palestine (emissions from using fuel, electricity, agriculture, and the equivalent amount of waste), and the steps taken by the PA to tackle them. It was agreed that the establishment of EQA represent the most influential step. EQA adopted several strategies that were designed to protect the environment, and a few of them were discussed in depth. The tax system since the time of the Ottoman up till the current system introduced by the PA was discussed at length in this chapter. The main tax laws, its founder, and subsequent effects form a major part of the described work. Finally, the researcher went ahead to emphasize the announcement of EQA, the lack of regulations,

28

laws, and the legislation of the various aspects of the environmental sector. The unique situation of Palestine does not relieve officials and decision-makers from being accountable for environmental issues. This study proposes a new scenario that could be used by officials to safeguard nature. The following chapter will review, in depth, the associated literature.

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CHAPTER THREE LITERATURE REVIEW

3.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter will introduce the tools that are used by the government to mitigate pollution. The first half involves a brief review of the literature on ET, and its potential impacts. This will be followed by a brief discussion of the factors that affect people’s perception towards the adoption of any environmental policy, mostly in the realm of tackling beliefs about consequences of climate change, attitude and intentions towards the implementation of PEB. Gaps in current literature will be highlighted in the following section, and this chapter will be concluded by a quick summary of its content.

3.1 THE GOVERNMENTAL TOOLS OF THE POLLUTION MITIGATION Environmental degradation put pressure on governments around the world into tackling pollution while maintaining economic growth. Governments have created and adopted several tools to curb pollution, which are information programs, regulations, innovation policies, environmental subsidies and taxes (OECD, 2011a). ET has been found to be more effective for the following reasons: i.

Environmental tax uncovers market failure from two aspects: A- ET pushes the polluters to internalize the environmental impact of their products instead of spreading the cost to the whole nation. B- ET uncovers market failure by innovating new methods of production that generate lesser emissions. The polluters will encourage innovations to minimize the amount that they should pay to the government.

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ii.

ET is the most flexible and effective way that offers both consumers and producers the least costly avenue of mitigating environmental degradation. An ET will motivate polluters and consumers to change their way of production and/or consumption by reducing and introducing alternatives. As a result of this, the market interaction between both parties will equilibrate environmental and economic preferences. When using regulations, subsidies or incentive will lead to a direct economic situation in a manner that will lead to increasing the cost of saving the environment or economic recession. Regulations, subsidies, and incentive will be directed towards banning some substances and higher fiscal reduction for specific goods, which will burden the national economy. Finally, ET is the most effective way of maintaining an excellent environmental and economic situation.

iii.

ET will lead to increasing competitiveness from two perspectives; First, ET push people to innovate, which will reduce production costs and increase demands, and second, increasing demands for eco-friendly products as a result of increasing the prices of conventional products will motivate the providers of these products and services to increase the quality of serving customers in order to attract more people to use their products.

iv.

A high transparency is possible via the application of ET. An ET is clear in terms of rate, coverage, costs, and exemptions. While the impact of other methods on different sectors is difficult to discern, different policies for different industries will lead to confusion and difficulties in its subsequent identification (Lundgren and Brännlund, 2009; OECD, 2011).

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3.2 ENVIRONMENTAL TAX (ET) The most influential power that can effectively influence the actions and perception of polluters and laypeople towards environmental problems is the government. Government intervention can motivate residents to think about a suitable way of tackling pollution (OECD, 2011a). Thus, the importance of ET is rather obvious in light of ineffective tools. ET can be defined as a tax imposed for environmental reasons, for instance, to provide an incentive to reduce certain emissions to an optimal level or taxes on environmentally harmful products. Moreover, ETs are designed to encourage businesses to use resources efficiently and discourage business practices that damage the environment. If one invests in environmentally-friendly equipment, they could receive tax breaks (Environmental tax law and legal definition, 2014). According to the UK government (2012) and OECD (2011) any ET should be comprised of the following points: i.

ET should encourage environmentally positive behavior change.

ii.

ET should concentrate on the polluting or pollutant behavior with little exemptions.

iii.

The scope of the ET should be broad along with the environmental degradation.

iv.

The rate of the ET should be equivalent with the nature loss.

v.

An ET should be credible and its rate predictable, which will inspire environmental improvements.

vi.

The tax should explicitly link to the governmental environmental objectives. Several types of ET have been imposed around the world (Gazley, 2006), mostly

in the form of three categories; ET dealing with solid waste, ET dealing with air pollution, and ET dealing with water pollution (OECD, 2011a). The most important kind of ET is the one dealing with air pollution. The revenue of ET in OECD countries,

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as a percentage of the GDP, shows that the revenue from energy and fuel taxes (air pollution taxes) is on average around 1.67 percent, while 0.03 percent are from other types of ET (OECD, 2011b). Therefore, it is not surprising that most literature on ET involve air pollution. ET is also known by many terms across the world, such as green taxes, carbon taxes, waste taxes, duty passenger taxes, motor vehicle taxes, and CO2 taxes. ETs are levied in many countries with the primary aim of reducing environmental pollution by increasing the cost of harmful deeds (Markandya, GonzálezEguino, & Escapa, 2012). However, its effectiveness remains unresolved. It is effective in certain countries (Allan, Lecca, McGregor, & Swales, 2014), while not as effective in others (Sun, 2013). In some countries where it is not as effective, it also negatively affected the economy (Costantini et al., 2013). The following subsection will show the actual and potential effects of ET, as quoted from different literature.

3.3 THE EFFECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL TAX After displaying the main features of the ET, this section addresses its’ effects on the environment, household, companies’ profitability, and the motor vehicles tax by reviewing many articles related to these issues.

3.3.1 The Effects of the Environmental Tax on the Environment Many authors discussed the effects of ET on the environment. Pour, Givehchi, and Rezaee (2013) studied the ET levied on Tehran to determine its effects on the environment. By distributing 586 questionnaires, they confirm that the entire samples’ respondents agree that carbon taxes (CT) actually reduced air pollution in Tehran. Also, Meng et al. (2012) studied the new rates of ET in Australia. They used two methods;

33

first, they designed a model of single country static (CGE), followed by shaping a measurement called social accounting matrix. They predicted similar effects in Australia as the one reported for Tehran. Furthermore, Allan et al. (2014) found consistencies of the situation in Tehran and Australia when examining the effects of the Scottish CT on the economic and environmental situations using data that was collected from The Scottish Social Accounting Matrix. In addition, Kumbaroğlu (2003) confirmed that CT will reduce a substantial amount of emissions in Turkey. While in Portugal, Martins (2011) studied the effects of ET using the analysis of the tax choices policy. They stated that the new tax system could not be seen as being environmentally friendly. The restrictions on the tax exemptions are not an environmental requirement, but were mostly due to the Portuguese government’s deficit. As a whole, the tax system is not appropriate in mitigating rising carbon emissions. Moreover, Sun (2013) examined the effect of the green tax on the economic sector to establish a recycling industry in China. The case study took place in the industrial Zone at Qaidam, in Qinghai province, and the results were compared to another in the Gansu Province. She concluded that ET will lead to increased tax revenue rather than clean products. Even though there is a doubt about the effectiveness of the green tax on the environment, there is positive desire for its implementation. The aforementioned situation is common in countries governed by single governments applying ET. The question that may arise is what about the federal countries, especially those who imposed ET in some region and ignored others? Jaime, Marco, and Cortés (2010) studied the effects of imposing ET by some local municipality instead of the whole of Spain. They used secondary sources to collect the data and analyzed it via logarithmic channels. They determined that the amount of waste in the regions applying green taxes decreased, but the total waste across Spain remained

34

similar. They also found that the regions levying their own tax create many tax differences between regions. Third, they confirmed that Spanish factories transfer their waste to regions lacking green tax. They argued that a national ET, with the unified rate, would solve this problem. The effect of cross-border or international companies should also be taken into account in this work. Henkow and Norrman (2011) studied this via interdisciplinary research. They combined logistics and other types of data collection from companies’ data, workshops, and interviews, as well as many approaches of the tax system to complete their study. When studying chains, they found that international companies are the source of much environmental problems. They transfer waste between branches, which resulted in minimal pollution reduction. The interaction between various parties should be developed prior to repairing global logistics and taxes structures.

3.3.2 The Effects of Motor Vehicle Tax The enormous numbers of motor vehicle forced many countries to impose vehicle taxes, due to increased amounts of emissions. The motor vehicle tax is a tax usually imposed on the cars’ usage in order to reduce its actual usage. Most motor vehicle taxes were effective (Kim et al., 2013; Pour et al., 2013), while others were not. An example of vehicle tax that expected to not achieve its goal is in South Africa. Nel and Nienaber (2012) studied the effects of motor vehicle tax in South Africa. They used the historical method by reviewing previous studies addressing the issue of carbon tax on the motor vehicle or the passenger and compare them to carbon tax of South Africa. They pointed out that vehicle taxes were imposed at three levels, on car purchase, annual fees for the high-pollution cars, and petrol consumption, all of which were designed to make it more effective. On the other hand, the motor vehicle tax is

35

heavily directed towards consumers, making it less effective. Most importantly, these taxes will not make any actual change on the behavior of South Africans. Literature documented the effectiveness of vehicle taxes in several countries, such as Ireland, Denmark, the USA, the UK, and Iran as follows. Hennessy and Tol (2011) analyzed the new amendment on CT on the private vehicles in Ireland using a demographic model in the context of size, fuel, age, and type. They also used a car purchase model to reflect the heterogeneous allocation of car usage and mileage across different engine capacities. They concluded that this reform would lead to increased shift from petrol-to-diesel cars, especially for large engine cars. Diesel cars are more fuel-efficient, which will lead to decreased driving cost, and ultimately decrease the overall tax burden. Moreover, diesel efficiency will decrease emissions. However, the advantage of using diesel over petrol is still up to debate. Fosgerau and Jensen (2013) analyzed the potential effects of reform on CT in Denmark. They collected data from the Danish Ministry of Transport and National Statistics Bureau. Researchers confirmed that the proposed ET system would lead to increased welfare. Also, despite the fact that the suggested reform will decrease ET on the vehicle, the rate of emissions will not increase due to the tax being shifted from vehicle registration to fuel efficiency. Kim et al. (2013) studied the attitudes towards road pricing and environmental taxation among British and American students. They collected data by distributing questionnaires in New Jersey and London. In the USA, the questionnaires were distributed online, and the number of respondents was 96, while in London, the questionnaires were on paper, and the number of respondents was 72. All respondents agree that the vehicle tax reduces air pollution. The USA and the UK vehicle taxes have a positive impact, and it is extensively accepted in both countries. The most important

36

element in accepting this policy is fairness. Finally, the awareness for environment problem, such as climate change, will lead to the acceptance of environmental policies (Kim et al., 2013). Similarly, Pour et al. (2013), after studying the vehicle tax in Iran, found that it decreases air pollution. It also changes the awareness of people towards environmental problems, rendering them more interested in it. Moreover, people thought that managers should design strict strategies within their respective organization to increase the effectiveness of CT.

3.3.3 The Effects of the Environmental Tax on Households and Social Welfare Taxes will affect the residents’ life and social welfare, directly or indirectly. Some articles address this issue. Ekins, Pollitt, Barton, and Blobel (2011) studied the effect of ET on households in Europe. They collected data from the European Environment Agency, the European Commission, the European system of accounts, and the Green Budget Germany. They argued that the ET will lead to increase in citizens’ income, and will not lead to regressive effects. Despite the fact that the effects of ET vary across countries, especially between the urban and rural locations, the biggest effect remains positive. The difficulties can be solved using economic subsidies. Fosgerau and Jensen (2013) also confirmed that ET decreases the burden of income tax on the citizen, leading to increased welfare of the people. On the other hand, Fullerton and Monti (2013) examined the effect of pollution tax on low-income earners, especially those who spend at levels exceeding the average (based on the USA layers of income). They collected data from Annual Reports, the Occupational Employment Statistics, the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, and many other websites. They found that despite the fact that ET increasing the salaries of

37

people via shifting taxes, it is still insufficient to offset the increase in production cost. Therefore, the government should protect poor people by issuing exemptions. Furthermore, Crago and Khanna (2014) analyzed the influence of CT on the price of biofuels in the USA. They collected data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Global Trade Analysis Project, and the US Department of Agriculture. They pointed out that when CT increased the demands for biofuels, prices would increase due to increased rent (biofuels will be extracted from plants). This will subsequently increase the price of biofuels and food. The optimal solution for CT is a mixed-mode, which means lower rates of CT and subsidies for biofuels.

3.3.4 The Effects of the Environmental Tax on the Economic Sector Usually, there is no uniform position between researchers about the economic effects of ET. There are three opinions on this, the first group is neutral, and Abdullah and Morley (2014) is from this group, where they discussed the relationship between ET and economic growth in the European Union from 1995 to 2006. They collected data from the World Bank, OCED and Eurostat for the same period. They determined that there are few indications that ET will result in economic growth. Second, there is a short-run effect between ET and economic growth. Third, they suggested that using other instrument instead of ET might be more effective in encouraging economic growth, protect the environment, and optimize the use of natural resources. The second group are authors who have positive stance towards ET, such as Lundgren and Brännlund (2009). They reviewed many articles that tested the Porter hypothesis, and argued that environmental policies will lead to improved competitiveness. The most powerful environmental strategies will pressure firms to become more efficient. The pressure in the shape of environmental laws could result in

38

the firm’s previously hidden inefficiencies to surface. Strict regulations initiate innovation in companies. Taken together, these effects will lead to the neutralization of the regulation's primary costs and the improvement of the firms’ competitive position. Also, Allan et al. (2014) studied the economic and environmental effect of the Scottish CT and outlays of the environmental revenue. They used the Scottish Social Accounting Matrix to collect data, and found that the imposing ET will promote the economic activities and reduce emissions. The double dividend situation will occur due to increasing economic activities4. Orlov, Grethe, and McDonald (2013) studied the effect of ET on the Russian economy. They collected data from the 7th Version of the Global Trade Analysis Project. They argued that when ET will impose it forces companies to innovate, especially energy suppliers, where they were forced to use renewable and clean sources of energy to generate electricity. The prices of electricity will decrease to a level that is lower than the price if fossil fuel being used, which increased the competitiveness of the electricity sector. The final opinion, which is also the majority, argued that ET would lead to the imposition of unnecessary costs to the economic sector. Therefore, their competitiveness will decrease in similar sectors of other countries that have not imposed any ETs. Many studies addressed this aspect, with some being highlighted in the following paragraphs. Bassi, Yudken, and Ruth (2009) examined the impact of changing prices of energy resulting from different carbon-pricing policies on the competitiveness of selected US energy-intensive industries. They found that the climate policy determining prices on emission might have substantial effects on the competitiveness of American

4

In case of shifting some taxes from income and profit to the ET, firms will make some innovation to decrease their ET amount. Therefore, the emissions amount will decrease, and the net profit will increase. So, they will invest more, this will lead to decrease unemployment.

39

energy-intensive manufacturing sectors. During the next twenty years, instead of reducing or solving the negative effects of rising energy prices on competitiveness, environmental policies will increase it. Al-Amin et al. (2010) conducted a study to check if CT can mitigate the effects of climate changes. They collected data from the Malaysian Social Accounting Matrix and gathered information from previous studies. They pointed out that the most powerful CT would lead to the compensation of GDP elements. This policy will burden corporate via the reduction of saving and economic activities. A good policy for the CT should not compensate for GDP and other aspects of market actions, and not burden corporations. Baranzini et al. (2000) studied the possibility of spreading the adoption of ET worldwide by collecting data from the European Commission and Eurostat. They argued that the main perceived difficulty to the adoption of CT is its potential effect on competitiveness. The commitment for more future emissions mitigation might imply stricter environmental strategies. Therefore, higher CT rates have a possible impact on competitiveness. Finally, Ekins (1999) analyzed the effect of ET on global business. He collected data from the International Financial Statistics, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Commission, and OCED. He argued that the introduction of economic instruments must not increase the business’ overall burden of taxation, and ET should not worsen business competitiveness. A huge debate took place regarding the influence of ET on the economic sector of foregoing rows. The solution proposed by the authors to correct the drawbacks of ET is an approach called environmental tax reforms. According to Luckin (2000), environmental tax reform began in the European Union in the 1990s. These reforms encompass the creation of a compensation system by shifting some taxes from income

40

and payroll taxes to ET, especially exemptions, emission trading schemes, and increasing consumer responsibility towards environmental problems. The following subsections further detail these policy changes.

3.3.4.1 Shifting Taxes As a response to companies, labor unions, and scientists, governments corrected many flaws inherent in the ET system by shifting some taxes from income tax to ET, mostly due to two factors; saving the environment and reduce unemployment. Why do companies support shifting taxes? This will give the opportunity for companies to innovate as an individual to reduce their respective taxes by implementing new technology or implementing new production methods to decrease fuel consumption, which will lead to reduced emissions and lesser taxes to the state (Luckin, 2000). According to Kumbaroğlu (2003), ET lead to a double dividend from shifting. A double dividend is a case of increasing profit due to the reduction on income tax from tax shifting; which allows the investor to invest more and employ more people, resulting in reduced unemployment. Markandya et al. (2012) tested this reform and documented that a change from salary taxes to ET might increase employment. The shift away from the taxation of labor to the taxation of other factors is expected to reduce production costs, and the implementation of the CT and recycling system will lead to reduced labor tax, at around 3.5 percent. Finally, the welfare of the society will be improved as a result of this reform. The relationship between income tax and new environmental policy was discussed in Martins (2011). He found that the new amendment to the income tax and the environmental policy in Portugal could not be seen as being environmentally friendly. The restriction on tax exemption is not an environmental option, but is actually

41

due to the Portuguese government’s deficit. In short, the tax system is inappropriate in mitigating the increased carbon emission. Furthermore, the result of the previous shifting on the overall tax revenue was measured by Ekins, Kleinman, Bell, and Venn (2010) in the UK, and it was determined that between 1995-1996, the amount of revenue from ET was nearly equal to the loss in other taxes. In 2001, the amount of ET revenue decreased compared to the losses from other taxes due to the reduction in fuel tax in 1999 after the astronomical increase in petrol prices that almost resulted in a riot. In summary, Agnolucci (2009) argued environmental tax reforms can realize substantial decrease in energy consumption and influence employment. The size of the workers’ cost decreasing or the elasticity of prices will positively affect employment as well. The effects of shifting taxes on employment are small, and possibly positive.

3.3.4.2 Exemptions from Environmental Tax The governmental efforts in shifting taxes were considered insufficient, as per the suggestions from experts. The suggestions included more steps to attaining economic equality in societies because economic inequality and environmental problems are significantly correlated (Casal, 2012). Luckin (2000) proposed some special cases, such as considering the needy, senior citizens, and family incomes. Another option is tax rebate, which could in theory be levied on all items. After all that, authorities could exempt certain items by studying each item as an individual rebate. Another approach is progressive expenditure taxes alongside ET. Taking into account the expenses for each person and determining the expenditure fields for any unfriendly environmental fields, governments could double the tax rates. Another way is to create an environmental credit card, where every person is provided with a magnetic card showing the level of roof rate consumption. After this

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level is exceeded, the prices will be increased via ET, especially for the goods containing carbon (Casal, 2012). Another proposal is to confirm that some goods will require a card for it to be purchased if it is environmentally unfriendly. Taxes on these goods will progressively increase when consuming increased units (Casal, 2012). However, this system could be compromised by government corruption, and as it is, corruption severely decreases the efficiency of CO2 tax in many countries. This is mostly caused by the minimization of tax rates and unnecessarily exempting goods vis-à-vis politicians during election time, which will render environmental taxes and its affiliated regulations ineffective (Brandt & Svendsen, 2014).

3.3.4.3 Emission Trading Schemes Another issue that is fast becoming prominent in emission is trading schemes, which is the result of insufficient taxation and regulation to reduce carbon emissions and industrial waste. Governments assumed that it should return to market-bases to recognize reduced emissions and reimburse international obligations (Bailey, 2002). This basically means that governments intend to market climate policy (Andrew et al., 2010), however, this will also lead to the privatization of environmental resources, and will not lead to social justice to the community (Luckin, 2000). The first country that used emission-trading scheme is the UK, starting from April 2002. The European Union followed and issued its own emissions schemes on 1st January 2005 (Gazley, 2006). Emissions trading schemes work by allocating preamounts of emission for each firm in a country, based on government statistics. Each company should not exceed its quota of emissions via consuming energy, petrol, or other elements that generate emissions. Therefore, if any company innovated and

43

reduced its emissions, it could sell the rest of its quota to other firms that are unable to reduce their own and need more (for example, electricity or petrol). The market of emissions trading schemes can recognize and mutualize these carbon permits (Gazley, 2006). However, this scheme is not immaculate, and is in fact full of issues. First, there are extensive evidence that emission trading schemes do not work well in delivering environmental benefits (Andrew et al., 2010). Second, the fact that the effects of emissions trading schemes on employment are on overall quite small, and could be positive (Agnolucci, 2009). Third, policy design will lead to negative effects on societies, such as higher costs, and will not lead to reduced emissions. Fourth, the system of ET, which shifts taxes, is acceptable to users at a level that is more palatable than an emission trading scheme (Costantini et al., 2013).

3.3.4.4 Consumers’ Behavior and Responsibility towards the Environment Previous laws, regulations, and economic policies did not assume that the consumer and producer are responsible (self-responsibility). A high degree of responsibility could substitute taxation when planners take into accounts consumer and producer responsibilities. The optimal level of environmental quality should be obtained at the end of government intervention via taxation. Also, an influence level of taxation could be imposed, and the optimum level of the environment quality is possible when both parties understand their respective responsibilities (Bazin et al., 2004).

3.3.5 The Effects of Carbon Tax on the Emission Inventory After highlighting the effects of ET on several aspects of the society and some new ways to tackle its drawbacks, the effectiveness of ET in a form of a CT on the emission

44

inventory should be considered. According to the World Bank report (2014) fifteen countries have implemented or approved the implementation of ET in a form of CT. In this vein, the countries that have active CT are considered. These countries are highlighted in table 3.1 below.

Table 3.1 The countries that have active carbon taxes Country Finland Sweden Norway Denmark Costa Rica UK

Year adopted 1990 1991 1991 1992 1997 2001

Country Switzerland Ireland Iceland Japan Mexico France

Year adopted 2008 2010 2010 2012 2012 2014

Source: modified from World Bank (2014).

In general, CTs are effective to achieve its goal, which is the mitigation of the CO2 emission inventories. A short explanation covers the effectiveness of CT in the above-mentioned countries with an exemption of Australian case because it is a unique experience. Finland is the first country in the world that has implemented the CT in 1990. The effectiveness of CT in Finland to some extent is considered as limited (Roson, 2013). The weak achievements on the carbon mitigation could be attributed to the adoption circumstances. Finland is the first to adopt CT, its actions were soft and favor the most intensive emitters from the tax, such as big industry and the energy generators. Another important reason is the political consideration and the electors’ pressure (Roson, 2013). Despite the weak achievement, the emission inventory has decreased since 2005 until 2014 from 69.6 million ton to 60.1 million ton (Statistics Finland, 2015). The year after, Sweden has implemented the CT. The effectiveness of Sweden’s

45

CT is clearly obvious, the emission inventory in 2008 was 40 percent lesser than it was in the 1980s (Realmelo, 2013). In 1992, Denmark implemented its own CT. At the beginning, Denmark intended to achieve 20 percent reduction in the carbon emission by 2005, but they achieved 25 percent reduction in CO2 emission by 2005, and revenue with US$905 million in 2008 (Bae, 2013). The UK’s CT that is implemented in 2001 was also effective. 2 percent and 2.25 percent were the decreased of the emission inventory in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The accumulative reduction till 2005 was 16.5 million ton CO2 (Green Fiscal Commission, 2009). The same situation is embodied in Switzerland since the adoption of the CT in 2008. The emission inventory decreased from 38.5 million ton in 2008 to 35.5 million ton in 2014 (Federal office for the environment, 2015). Switzerland planned to reduce the emissions by 50 percent lesser than the 1990 level by 2030 (climateactiontracker, 2015). A 6.7 percent decreased of emission inventory was achieved in Ireland in 2011 after a year of the CT adoption (Carbon Tax Center, 2015). Due to the sharp increased in the emission amount from 35 million ton in 1990 to 45 million ton in 2010, Iceland has implemented the CT (Environmental Agency of Iceland, 2012). The adoption of CT came to meet up with the international obligations, which push Iceland5 to determine a target of 30 percent lesser than 1990 level in a joint effort with European Union (climateactiontracker, 2015). For Japan, according to the Ministry of Environment, the expected reduction in the emission inventory will be between 6 and 24 million ton in 2020 compared with 1990 level. Japan implemented the CT at the end of 2012 and aimed to achieve 80 percent reduction by 2050 (Ministry of Environment, 2012).

5

There is a lack of figures related to the emission inventories in Iceland, Japan, France, and Mexico.

46

Mexico and France adopted the CT in 2012 and 2014, respectively, and will be activated from 2014 (climateactiontracker, 2015; worldbank, 2014). Mexico is the first developing country that has implemented such a tax, with a goal of 50 percent reduction of emission by 2050 compared with 1990 level (climateactiontracker, 2015). On the other hand, Norway and Costa Rica have different results. Norway has implemented the CT since 1991. This implementation did not achieve decrease in the emission inventory, but increased from 50 million ton in 1990 to 51 million ton in 2009 (Statistics Norway, 2015). Despite the emission amount increased, Norway has declared 40 percent reduction in emission by 2030 compared to the 1990 level and to become carbon-neutral by 2050 (climateactiontracker, 2015). Costa Rica CT that was imposed in 1997 cannot curb the increase in the level of emission. A clear increase from 79 million ton in 2000 to 87 million ton to in 2005 can be noted. This increase could be attributed to the growth of the economic activities and the population (Pratt, Rivera, & Sancho, 2010). Finally, a unique case, which is the Australian experience regarding the CT. After the adoption of the CT in 2012, Australia has repealed it in 2014. Australia is the first nation that canceled the CT after adoption (Carbon Tax Center, 2015), with 39 votes which supported its cancelation and 32 objected (Cox, 2014). The CT in Australia achieved great results in curbing the pollution by 0.8 percent in the first 12 months and 1.4 percent in the year that follows (Milman, 2014). Therefore, it is obvious that the cancelation of the CT in Australia was as a result of the political considerations (Taylor & Hoyle, 2014). A significant evidence can be seen from the case of Australia, which is to look at the factor that affect the political consideration, which could be mainly the views of the electors. So, what are the factors that affect the electors’ perception towards

47

supporting or rejecting such a policy? These must be looked at, the next half of this literature review will highlight these factors.

3.4 THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS After defining ET, types, problems, potential solution, and most of its features, the factors that affect people’s decision towards its implementation or any other environmental policies (willingness to pay for environmental protection) will be detailed and discussed in the rest of this chapter.

3.4.1 Pro-environmental Behavior Pro-environmental behavior (PEB) is a concept that has extensively been used to describe reaction towards the patterns of environmental protection. In this study, although there are many PEBs that do not cost such as recycling, reuse, and voluntary gathering to increase the environmental awareness, the researcher used the work of Ramdas and Mohamed (2014) to identify PEB as the willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental protection. ET, in the context of this work, is a one type of proenvironmental policy (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015). In order for taxes to be effective, it should be accepted by citizens (OECD, 2011a). As per this statuette, the determinants that could affect Palestinian intentions towards acceptance and implementation of ET were extensively tested via this exploratory study.

3.4.1.1 The Effects of the Beliefs about the Climate Change Consequences Climate change is one of the most important factors that contribute towards shaping peoples’ perception in adopting anti-pollution mechanisms. Climate change has been extensively studied, however, its exact mechanisms remains a mystery. Lorenzoni et al.

48

(2007) argued that more research is needed to analyze the relationship between awareness about climate change and the adoption of pro-environmental action that is required and necessary. Moreover, Nawrotzki et al. (2014) stated that in this stage of climate change, extensive research is crucial to increasing understanding about the determinants of climate concerns, specifically in developing countries. In this study, the researcher adopted the definition of climate change policy as per Morrison, Duncan, and Parton (2013), where it is any policy that aims to mitigate greenhouse gas and its subsequent consequences. Some studies that discussed the role of understanding the consequences of climate change on framing citizens’ action are discussed below. These studies are in line with the TPBs’ assumption that performing a certain behavior is linked to the expected benefits or losses for that action. The relationship between people’s concern about environmental problem and their action to mitigate its effects, as well as their intention to pay for reducing such effects, has been empirically studied by Dienes (2015). He used the “Life in Transition Survey”, which was conducted in 2010 by covering individuals from 35 countries. Furthermore, data related to the 2008 financial crisis was collected to explain the effects of economic factors upon environmental concern. He found that people who are more concerned towards the environment would be the most willing to act on proenvironment policies and pay for mitigating climate changes. The economic situation for citizens is a moderating effect on WTP, which results in them acting in favor of the environment due to increased levels of concern. This means that concern about the effects of climate change positively affects people’s perception towards the intention to pay, which mitigates the consequences of climate change. Finally, the author argued that climate change is one of the major determinants of the PEB.

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Through a cross-national and multilevel analysis study with data from the 6th wave of the “International Social Survey Program” (ISSP) that was conducted in 2010 throughout 32 countries with 45,119 individuals, Zhou (2014) analyzed environmental skepticism and tried to identify its social bases. He defined environmental skepticism as “a doubt about the authenticity or severity of environmental degradation”, which is common amongst the general public. He found that skepticism emerges from selfassessed environmental information, insufficient education; the paucity of trust in community and science, religious and conservative values, and finally, competing priorities. The proportion of the public that rejects the reality of environmental threats is rather small, however, it is imperative that its roots be determined and understood. In this case, the adoption of an environmental policy or supporting any PEB will be very difficult, or even impossible in certain cases, due to the actions’ receivers not believing that there are problems associated with climate changes. Therefore, environmental skepticism is one of the major obstacles that impede the adoption of anti-pollution policies. Finally, although there is increased number of scientific evidence that supports the emergence of climate change and its severity on the human life, skeptics are easily identifiable (Zhou, 2014). Duan et al. (2014) used the contingent valuation model to examine people willing to pay for CO2 emissions mitigation in China. Face-to-face completion of questionnaire was used, and 1653 questionnaires were subsequently collected. They found that citizens who aware of the dilemma associated with climate change are WTP significant amounts to reduce its effects. Therefore, awareness about the causes, effects, potential impact, and solution for the climate change problem are important elements in motivating the peoples’ WTP.

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The perception of risk from uncertainty related to climate change has been studied in Switzerland by Veronesi, Chawla, Maurer, and Lienert (2014). They examine the relationship between the Swiss WTP for mitigation of ecological and health risks that occur by discharging sewer water into rivers and lakes. 4270 online questionnaires were distributed to the German, Italian, and French parts of Switzerland, and 1022 questionnaire was returned. A high percentage of WTP higher annual taxes were found among the Swiss, at 71 percent. The Swiss are particularly WTP higher annual taxes, at CHF 1218, which translates into 1 percent of the average annual income of a household. This positive stance came from the perception of climate change and the belief of the importance of mitigating its subsequent risk. Hanson (2011), elicited Australian opinions on several issues, one of which is climate change. Data was obtained from 1002 questionnaires and compared with the previous versions of the same report. He studied their opinions by posing some questions. The role of the federal government in tackling climate change, at 36 percent, is regarded as poor, while 39 percent regarded them as being very poor. However, foreign policy associated with tackling climate change is supported by 46 percent of the citizens. This percentage is lower than the ones reported in 2010 and 2007, by 7 and 29 points, respectively. When asked if stricter action towards climate change is necessary, 41 percent express their agreement, which is 5 points lower than the value reported in 2010. 19 percent of Australians are against taking any action that could result in economic impacts until they are sure that climate change is real and severe. This is 12 points higher than the value reported in 2006. Views on taking part in solving climate change by paying more on electricity is split evenly. $1 to $10 is supported by 19 percent compared to 32 percent in 2008, the second layer, from $11 to $20 gained support from 13 percent

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compared to 20 percent in 2008. The final layer, at more than $21, is supported by 19 percent in both 2008 and 2010.

3.4.1.2 Demographic Factors The research about psycho-sociological factors affecting environmentalism behavior began in 1970s (Pisano et al., 2014). The socio-demographic factors have been studied to determine its role in shaping PEB. Unfortunately, the reported results are in conflict with one another (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015), and it can be concluded that the influence of socio-demographic factors on the implementation of eco-friendly actions remains vague. The contextual factors and pressure of local characteristics lead to the emergence of differences among nations (Katz-Gerro, Greenspan, Handy, Lee, & Frey, 2014; Pisano et al., 2014). This discrepancy in the results will be discussed in the following sub-sections.

(A) The effects of gender Al-Rabaani and Al-Mekhlaf (2009) studied students’ attitudes towards certain environmental problems by being aware of the extent students are willing to take actions to mitigate environmental problem, the effect of gender and how it reflects in student attitudes, and being aware of the relationship between willing to take action among students and their attitudes towards these problems. The study was carried out at the Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman using data from 317 questionnaires from different colleges. The results indicate that female students are more concerned about the environment and willing to take actions to protect it. Many studies that have been conducted in several places and under different scenarios arrived at the same conclusion (Carlsson et al., 2012; de Leeuw, Valois, Ajzen, & Schmidt, 2015; Ercolano

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et al., 2012; Gifford & Nilsson, 2014; Katz-Gerro et al., 2014; Laroche, Bergeron, & Barbaro-Forleo, 2001; Milfont, Evans, Sibley, Ries, & Cunningham, 2014; Nawrotzki et al., 2014; Pisano et al., 2014; Zhou, 2014). On the other hand, opposing results were reported by studies analyzing the same relationships. Xiao and Hong (2010) investigated gender differences towards the orientation of environmental behavior and environmental knowledge and concern in a Chinese context. They used the National Social Survey for 2003, covering 5073 individuals. They found Chinese women are less concerned about environmental issues than Chinese men, which is opposite to other reported works. There are also a few other studies that concluded the same (Duan et al., 2014; Ercolano et al., 2012). As opposed to previous views, other researchers did not found any significant relationship between gender and environmental concern. Rasool and Ogunbode (2015) examined how socio-demographic factors affect environmental concern and WTP for tackling climate change among Pakistanis. The data were obtained from the PEW Research Center’s survey that was conducted in 2010 by eliciting 2000 individuals. The researchers cannot find any significant relationship between environmental concern and gender. Studies by Ivanova and Tranter (2004), Ogunbode and Arnold (2012), Owen and Videras (2006), and Veronesi et al. (2014) came to the same conclusion. Finally, the effect of gender on PEB varies among nations and municipalities due to contextual factors characterizing each region. This is the conclusion of several studies in the same field. In Malaysia, Masud and Kari (2015) studied the effect of socio-economic and demographic factors on social attitudes towards PEB. By using data from 300 questionnaires, they found that the effect of gender differs between male and female vis-à-vis environmental behavior, as each have different views. Mixed

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results were found in other reported work (Ivanova & Tranter, 2008; Torgler & GarcíaValiñas, 2007).

(B) The effects of age The effect of age upon environmental behavior varies, due to other variables such as cultural values, socioeconomic status, and geographical locations (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015). The first view that the elders are more concerned about the environment and are willing to adopt actions that can mitigate the effect of climate change, including financial actions. Pisano et al. (2014) studied the impact of socio-demographic factors on public6 and private7 PEB using International Social Survey Program as a source of information, with its 2010 version that encompassed 30 countries. They highlighted the positive relationship between age and PEB. They argued that when humans become older, the acceptance of the pro-environmental actions would increase. Furthermore, Ivanova and Tranter (2008); Ogunbode and Arnold (2012); Pinto, Nique, Añaña, and Herter (2011) came to the same conclusion. As opposed to the previous situation, Ramos, Labandeira, and Löschel (2015) examined the contributing factor that affect the energy efficiency decisions as a part of pro-environmental actions. The Spanish National Statistics Institute Survey (2008) was used in the data collection process. The results indicate that younger citizens have more eco-friendly habits and are more willing to invest in energy efficiency mechanism. AlRabaani and Al-Mekhlaf (2009); Diederich and Goeschl (2013); Duan et al. (2014);

6

Such as the donation for an environmental group, member of an environmental group, signed petitions for environmental issues (Pisano et al., 2014). 7 Such as mitigate energy consuming, recycled, saved water or re-used it for environmental purposes (Pisano et al., 2014).

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Masud and Kari (2015); Torgler and García-Valiñas (2007); Zhou (2014) came to the same conclusions. The third position is that the PEB, as well as individuals’ attitudes, are not correlated to the age of citizens. Owen and Videras (2006) studied the impact of civic cooperation attitudes on pro-environmental attitude, as well as WTP higher taxes in preventing environmental damage. The data was obtained from the World Values Survey conducted between 2000 and 2001, encompassing 30 countries and 30,000 individuals. They argued that age does not have any impact on people’s attitude towards environmental issues and their WTP to protect the environment. Some studies agree with their supposition (Ivanova & Tranter, 2004; Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015; Veronesi et al., 2014).

(C) The effects of education Education is considered one of the major socio-demographic factors that affect peoples’ perception towards WTP for environmental protection. The literature overwhelmingly articulated the positive impact of education on PEB, while a few argued that education is of little significance, if at all. Diederich and Goeschl (2013) studied the voluntary climate action’s determinants and its potential impact on climate change. They collected 2440 online questionnaires from German citizens. Education appeared to be the most influential elements on affecting citizens’ WTP for the environment, whether directly or not. Some of the studies that support this finding are Dorsch (2011); Ercolano et al. (2012); Ivanova & Tranter (2004, 2008); Laroche et al. (2001); Lera-López, Faulin, Sánchez, & Serrano (2014); Masud & Kari (2015); Owen & Videras (2006); Pisano et al. (2014);

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Rasool & Ogunbode (2015); Torgler & García-Valiñas (2007); Veronesi et al. (2014); Zhou (2014). The smallest part of the research that believe the neutral or very weak relationship between education and PEB are Bohr (2014); Duan et al. (2014); Kollmuss and Agyeman (2002); Ogunbode and Arnold (2012). The latter examined the impact of socio-demographic factors on people awareness and attitudes towards the environment in Ibadan, Nigeria. Through 326 valid questionnaires, the researchers stated that increased knowledge has very little impact on peoples’ action and attitudes. Moreover, higher education does not seem to prioritize environmental issues.

(D) The effects of the place of residence, religion, and marital status The discrepancy of the results for previous factors is characterized by current factors. Collado, Corraliza, Staats, and Ruiz (2015) examined the impact of contact with nature on children’s environmental attitudes and behavior on urban and rural locations. After analyzing 832 reports from students about their environmental behavior, they found that urban children have a more positive environmental behavior compared to their rural counterparts. This finding is supported by many (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015; Torgler & García-Valiñas, 2007; Zhou, 2014). However, it is the exact opposite in Canada, as reported by Huddart-Kennedy, Beckley, McFarlane, and Nadeau (2009), after analyzing data from National Survey encompassing 51664 persons. Other studies supporting these results are Hinds and Sparks (2008) and Milfont et al. (2014). Finally, studies by Bohr (2014) and Veronesi et al. (2014) argued that there is no relationship between geographical location and pro-environmental action. They came to this conclusion through their test in the USA and later Switzerland.

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For the impact of religion on the environment, Carlsson et al. (2012) studied the resident WTP for mitigating CO2 emission in USA, Sweden, and China. Online surveys were distributed in America and Sweden, while self-distribution was used in China, and 999, 1230, and 1264 questionnaires were collected, respectively. They argued that religious people are more likely to pay for environmental protection than non-religious people in both Sweden and China. Ercolano et al. (2012) supported this supposition. On the other hand, Judeo-Christian beliefs were found to contradict environmental concern, as reported by White (1967) and quoted by Bohr (2014). In the context of marital status, Laroche et al. (2001) studied the Americans’ demographic, behavioral, and psychological factors that affect their decision towards paying higher prices for fewer pollution products. Information extracted from 907 usable questionnaires were distributed in 17 municipalities. They found that an individual who is married, whether with children or not, expressed higher tendency towards paying higher prices for having environmentally-friendly products, while Torgler and García-Valiñas (2007) stated that marital status did not affect Spanish perception towards the adoption of PEB. The data was extracted from World Value Survey of 1990, 1995, and 2000, as well as data from European Values Survey of 1999.

3.4.1.3 The Effects of the Economic Situation The economic situation has a big impact on the citizens’ behavior and decisions. Sometimes, any regulations or rules that have economic consequences will pressure people to behave in an environmentally beneficial manner, regardless of their personal disposition (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). Franzen (2003) compared the environmental concerns of 26 nations that were covered under the International Social Survey Program (2000) with the ones reported

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in the 1993 Survey. He argued that wealthier countries are more concerned about the environment. This might be due to two reasons; increased wealth leading to higher demands for a clean milieu, making it easier to redistribute resources in an environmentally friendly manner (Franzen, 2003). Carlsson et al. (2012); Duan et al. (2014); Ercolano et al. (2012); Ivanova and Tranter (2008); Masud and Kari (2015); Nawrotzki et al. (2014); Pisano et al. (2014); Pampel (2014); Ramos et al. (2015); Rasool and Ogunbode (2015) support these findings. However, Uyeki and Holland (2000) confirmed that low-income citizens are more pro-environmentally and concerned about nature after studying the situation in America using the General Social Survey (1993) data that covered 1268 people. Finally, Torgler and García-Valiñas (2007); Ogunbode and Arnold (2012); Zhou (2014); Dienes (2015) pointed out that economic situation did not affect, or have very little effect, on PEB.

3.4.1.4 The Effects of Trust Trust is a very important part of determining an individual’s attitudes towards paying for environmental protection. Increasing the level of trust will lead to increased preference towards environmental protection policy (Torgler & García-Valiñas, 2007). Trusting the government (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015); environmental movement (Owen & Videras, 2006); universities advice (Ivanova & Tranter, 2004); or from other information providers, politicians, scientists, radio personalities, and celebrities (Morrison et al., 2013). The trust of previous parties will lead to payment of higher taxes for supporting environmental mitigation policies (Owen & Videras, 2006), while mistrust is regarded as the main reason for disengagement of an environmental policy (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015).

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Through empirical work, Dorsch (2011) demonstrated that trust of the national government will lead to increased inclination of participating in environmental policy protection. This assumption was obtained when he analyzed the basic public policy of environmental preservation in emerging economies at an individual level. He collected data from the World Values Survey (2005-2008) and the United Nations Statistics Division, Economics Statistics Branch (2009).

3.4.1.5 The Effects of the Political Party Environmentalism is significantly affected by political activism, greatly affecting the people’s WTP (Owen & Videras, 2006). Therefore, the scale of pro-environmental contribution will increase when the political discussion increases (Torgler & GarcíaValiñas, 2007). The importance of political support came from Morrison et al. (2013), where he believed that the success and maintenance of climate change policy is contingent upon obvious majority support. Moreover, current environmentalism is characteristic of the left (Bohr, 2014; Carlsson et al., 2012; Ercolano et al., 2012; Ivanova & Tranter, 2004; Torgler & GarcíaValiñas, 2007; Veronesi et al., 2014). Tvinnereim (2015) agreed with this supposition by analyzing the influence of party sorting on climate change policy amongst voters and candidates in Europe. They analyzed data for the two largest parties in each country based on election results. They pointed out that governmental intervention for environment protection in the form of taxes and regulations are more acceptable to left voters and candidates. On the contrary, Duan et al. (2014) determined that members of the communist party are more WTP than their democratic counterparts in China.

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3.4.1.6 The Effects of Other Factors Many other factors affecting peoples’ perception towards paying for environmental protection have been addressed in literature. The inability towards controlling the sources of pollution makes individuals feel that they cannot make a differences, subsequently eroding the tendency towards WTP (Barry & Proops, 1999). Moreover, many studies highlighted the impact of knowledge on people’s perception towards climate protection (Bohr, 2014; Carrico, Padgett, Vandenbergh, Gilligan, & Wallston, 2009; Ramdas & Mohamed, 2014). When individuals are adequately knowledgeable about environmental threats, they would be more concerned, and active in promoting pro-environmental policies (Katz-Gerro et al., 2014). Without the knowledge, citizens cannot fully understand the severity of climate retreat, which will lead to their underestimation of it and disengagement from proenvironmental actions (Zhou, 2014). Moreover, the direct experience of environmental problems will increase WTP, because it will directly threaten the dwellers’ life (Inglehart, 1995; Ivanova & Tranter, 2008; Laroche et al., 2001; Milfont et al., 2014; Owen & Videras, 2006; Torgler & García-Valiñas, 2007). Dorsch (2011) pointed out that it has no effects on WTP. Other actions affect the engagement in pro-environmental programs. For example, if individuals believe that corporations and government are able to tackle environmental issues, they will not engage, and vice versa (Laroche et al., 2001). Prioritization has a significant impact as well, as some people will prioritize other problems over environmental ones, such as unemployment or urban problems (Barry & Proops, 1999). Usually, financial concerns are prioritized over environmental concerns (Lorenzoni et al., 2007). Environmental problems will be resolved when financial security is guaranteed (Zhou, 2014).

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Being a member of an environmental organization increased the peoples’ willingness to accept higher taxes in order to save nature (Katz-Gerro et al., 2014; Torgler & García-Valiñas, 2007). Furthermore, if individuals can mitigate the effects of free rider8, they will accept paying higher taxes for environmental purposes (Bohr, 2014; Owen & Videras, 2006). Some people are not WTP anything for climate protection if they cannot limit free rider actions (Diederich & Goeschl, 2013; Ramdas & Mohamed, 2014). Also, some people prefer a pro-environmental policy that has higher prices on non-environmental products compared to higher taxes. The freedom of choice is the pushing factor behind this, because they believe that higher prices can be avoided to some extent by changing the types of products or consuming habits (Ivanova & Tranter, 2004, 2008). Lorenzoni et al. (2007) identified several factors that could affect the engagement in WTP activities by analyzing three studies in the UK in the last five years. They encountered multiple barriers, such as uncertainty and skepticism; reliance on technology; distrust in information sources; lack of knowledge; externalizing responsibility and blame; reluctance to change lifestyles; climate change considered as a far threat; importance of other priorities; and helplessness. Finally, the availability of some contextual or institutional factors will facilitate engagement with PEB, such as recycling infrastructure or suitable public transportation system (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). Furthermore, the acceptability of environmental policy will be linked to its fairness and less affected by individual freedom (Steg & Vlek, 2009). Other factors that have been found to affect PEB are national pride (Torgler & García-Valiñas, 2007); civic cooperation (Owen & Videras, 2006); frequent contact

8

The case when the individual maximize his or her interest on the cost of public (Bohr, 2014).

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with nature (Collado et al., 2015); optimism bias, resistance to change habits and lifestyle, fatalism (Milfont et al., 2014); environmental decision making, misunderstand of the environmental threat consequences (Clements et al., 2015); life satisfaction (Duan et al., 2014); autonomy (Lebmann & Masson, 2015); voluntary climate action (Diederich & Goeschl, 2013); and unintentional engagement in pro-environmental action (Gifford, 2011).

3.5 LITERATURE GAPS After reviewing previous studies, the researcher is able to identify the following gaps: i.

Al-Rabaani and Al-Mekhlaf (2009) is the sole study that addressed WTP for environmental protection in the Arab World, although there are 22 Arab countries with a total population of 359 million people (Mirkin, 2010). Therefore, many studies are needed to elucidate the Arabic perception towards WTP in the context of environmental issues.

ii.

Al-Rabaani and Al-Mekhlaf (2009) analysis included university students, while the current study elicited the community as a whole. Moreover, they did not refer to the ET terminology at all, except in literature review. Thus, Arabs’ perception towards ETI is especially crucial.

iii.

Following Ogunbode and Arnold (2012), as well as Rasool and Ogunbode (2015), most previous work were conducted in western societies. Therefore, representations of non-western societies are important towards shaping the understanding of the circumstances associated with PEB.

iv.

The weakness of WTP literature is its generalization. Nordlund and Garvill (2002) questioned the validity and usefulness of studying general PEB by many researchers, pointing out that it is better to study a specific behavior. Therefore,

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this study intends to look at certain behavior, which is ET, to understand its determinants. v.

Torgler and García-Valiñas (2007) stated that empirically eliciting the residents’ environmental beliefs is a promising attempt in uncovering the factors constructing it. Thus, the current research empirically investigated the factors affecting Palestinian intentions towards ETI. This investigation intends to determine the determinants of WTP for environmental protection among Palestinians.

3.6 SUMMARY This chapter reviewed the relevant major articles in two fields, which are the ET with its features and the factors affecting PEB. The first half of this chapter addressed the definition, merits, features, and the effect of ET on the environment, households and social welfare, economic sector, emission inventory, and the motor vehicles taxes. Moreover, some creative ways of tackling the consequences of ET were proposed, such as shifting taxes, emission trading schemes, tax exemptions, and increasing the responsibility sense of the consumers and producers. The rest of this chapter deals with the factors that contribute towards shaping PEB. Several factors were found to affect the acceptance or rejection of the adoption of a pro-environmental policy. The beliefs about climate change, demographic characteristics, economic reasons, mutual trust, and political parties are factors that have been found to significantly affect pro-environmental decision. Other factors that may affect PEB, include recycling infrastructure, suitable public transportation, the fairness of the policy, the effect on freedom, national pride, civic cooperation, frequent contact with nature, optimism bias, resistance to change habits and lifestyle, fatalism,

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misunderstanding the environmental threat consequences, life satisfaction, autonomy, voluntary climate action, and unintentional engagement in pro-environmental action. Moreover, the researcher was able to identify many gaps that require attention from previous research, such as the lack of non-western environmental research and lack of the research on the Arab region. This work is expected to bridge this gap. Finally, literature was found to apply behavioral theories. The most important and popular theory that has been used extensively in the research is the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). TPB assumes that in order to perform a certain behavior, an intention to do so should be developed. Moreover, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control are predictors for intention. Greater details are provided in the next chapter regarding the theory, conceptual framework, and hypotheses development

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CHAPTER FOUR THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT

4.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter is devoted to explaining the theory used in this study, which is the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The first section will extensively detail TPB, while the second will discuss the applications of TPB in several research fields. Similarly, the third and fourth sections will discuss the applications of TPB in pro-environmental and tax research, respectively. The conceptual framework is detailed in section five, while section six contains the hypotheses’ development, and sections seven and eight explain the control variables and a summary of this chapter, respectively.

4.1 THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR (TPB) Theory of Planned behavior (TPB) was introduced in 1985 by Ajzen. TPB is regarded as the most effective and influential model; its effectiveness clearly shown by increasing the number of citations from 22 citations in 1985 to 4,550 in 2010 as a yearly measure (Ajzen, 2011). According to Ajzen (2011), it is the highest impact theory among scientists in social psychology. Since its introduction in 1985, the depiction of the theory has been improved in 1991 (Ajzen, 1991) and in 2006 (Ajzen, 2006). The second depiction of the theory is shown in Figure 4.1.

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Behavioral beliefs

Attitudes

Normative beliefs

Control beliefs

Subjective norms

Intention

Behavior

Perceived behavior control

Figure 4.1: Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 2006)

Based on this scheme, human behavior is directly guided by intention and perceived behavior control, and indirectly through intention by three factors, namely attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control. These three factors are assumed to develop based on three underlying beliefs, which are behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs (Ajzen, 1991). If someone believes that performing a specific behavior has greater advantages (behavior beliefs), he will develop a positive attitude towards performing it. On the other hand, if he believes that performing the behavior is disadvantageous, he will have a negative attitude towards it. If a man believes that there is social pressure towards performing a behavior and he believes they will perform it as well (normative beliefs) he will be motivated to perform the behavior. Finally, if a man believes that he can overcome the obstacles of performing a behavior (control beliefs) he will be encouraged towards it (Ajzen, 1991). After that, the intention towards a behavior will be shaped as an obvious indicator towards carrying out the behavior (Ajzen, 2006). Details related to previous components will be discussed below.

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4.1.1 Behavioral Beliefs and Attitudes toward the Behavior The beliefs about the likely consequences of performing a certain behavior will affect people’s perception towards its performance. Positive expectations will lead to developing a positive attitude towards the behavior. A positive attitude will contribute in shaping the intention of performing the behavior. On the other hand, a negative expectation will lead to the avoidance of that behavior (Ajzen & Klobas, 2013). This assumption came from the expectancy-value model embodied in TPB. An indirect relationship between belief and behavior is expected via attitudes and intention (Ajzen, 1991). Therefore, attitude is the result of summed behavioral beliefs (Ajzen, 1985), and a predictor for the intention and the behavior. Thus, beliefs function by explaining why that attitude is developed. Finally, the best way towards an accurate belief is eliciting it directly from the respondents (Ajzen, 1991).

4.1.2 Normative Beliefs and Subjective Norms As a second element in shaping a person’s intention to adopt a specific behavior, subjective norms have a significant effect on the process of adoption. Subjective norm is the collective normative beliefs about performing the behavior. Normative beliefs comprise of injunctive and descriptive beliefs. The former refers to the importance of the referent persons (e.g. close friends, teachers, and parents). When a person believes that the referent persons want him to perform a certain behavior, this will motivate him to do so (de Leeuw et al., 2015). While, the latter refers to a person’s belief on whether an important referent is likely to actually perform a behavior or will perform it ( Aizen & Klobas, 2013; Lebmann & Masson, 2015). Furthermore, if the behavior is neither known nor accepted, its performance will be difficult (Lebmann & Masson, 2015).

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Therefore, the approved and common behavior will motivate a person to perform it without doubt.

4.1.3 Control Beliefs and Perceived Behavior Control When a person believes that he has the ability to perform a behavior and has the power to facilitate the adoption of a behavior, he will have a certain degree of control that will motivate him to perform that behavior (Ajzen & Klobas, 2013). However, when actual control mitigates the intention and motivation of performing a certain behavior, it will inevitably decrease (Ajzen, 2011). Moreover, beliefs about control over behavior depend on opportunities, resources, an adequate number of information, and past experiences (Ajzen, 1991). Perceived behavior control can affect behaviors directly or indirectly via intention (de Leeuw et al., 2015). The first situation is governed by two reasons: First, holding a constant intention to perform a certain behavior will be more powerful when a person has a high level of perceived behavior control. Second, the perceived behavior control can sometimes be used as an alternative to measure the actual control, depending on the precision of the perception (Ajzen, 1991).

4.1.4 Intention Intention is the central of the TPB (Ajzen, 1991). Intention can be predicted by aggregating the perception towards attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control, or by attitudes and subjective norms alone (Ajzen, 2014; Booth, Norman, Harris, & Goyder, 2014). Therefore, intention is expected to captivate the motivational elements that will affect a behavior. Thus, it is an indicator of how much people are willing to perform a certain behavior and to what extent they are willing to exert their effort to achieve it (Ajzen, 1985). In addition, the effectiveness of the intention’s

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performance depend on the intention’s robustness to engage in that behavior (Ajzen, 1991). However, intention can function as an indicator of the endeavor of performing the behavior and not necessarily actually performing it (Ajzen, 1985). Finally, actions amongst valuation of intention and monitoring of behavior may yield changes in intention, and unexpected difficulties may ban people from executing their respective intentions (Ajzen, 2014).

4.1.5 Behavior Behavior performance is predicted by interacting between intention and perceived behavior control (Ajzen, 1991). Moreover, if people believe that they have a certain level of control over a behavior and they intend to perform it, they will do so. Moreover, the estimation of the probability of performing the behavior, in reality, is behavior expectation (Ajzen, 1985). Two conditions should be met to accurately predict a behavior. First, the assessment of perceived behavior control and intention must be linked to a specific behavior, and the context should be at a specific place that the actual behavior will be performed. Second, perceived behavior control and intention should continue steadily in the period amongst its evaluation and monitoring. Intervening actions may yield variations on the perception or intention that affect behavioral execution (Ajzen, 1991).

4.2 APPLICATION OF TPB IN SEVERAL FIELDS With 33,586 citations (Google scholar, 2015), TPB demonstrates that its framework as being one of the most recognizable in explaining human behavior. From that, it can be elicited that TPB is applicable almost everywhere. Moreover, it is also successful in predicting human behavior in most of scientific fields (Ajzen, 2011), such as fertility

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intention (Ajzen & Klobas, 2013); diseases protection (Booth et al., 2014); the sport’s effects on the health (Prapavessis, Gaston, & DeJesus, 2015); business sector (Leroy, Manigart, Meuleman, & Collewaert, 2015); religion activities effects (Amin & Chewning, 2015); and nutrition sector (Lim, Kim, & Kim, 2015). All of the previous literature documented the validity of the TPB framework through confirming the theory’s assumptions.

4.3 APPLICATIONS OF TPB IN PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL RESEACH TPB has successfully been applied to predict PEB in several situations (Steg & Vlek, 2009). De Leeuw et al. (2015) used TPB to elucidate key beliefs that affect youths’ perception towards a variety of PEBs in high school. They argued that using TPB’s framework helps the people to understand the pro-environmental intention and behavior of high school students. Furthermore, Bamberg (2002) studied the effects of intention on the actual behavior of a new PEB, and found that the actual behavior is significantly influenced by the level of intention to perform that behavior. Therefore, his study supports the TPB framework. Sawang and Kivits (2014) examined factors affecting senior managers in adopting green decisions in their human resource practices via the application of TPB. Using two separate questionnaires, data were collected from 210 organizations. The managers’ green decisions are significantly affected by their attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control. This result demonstrated the validity of using TPB’s framework to predict such behavior. Moreover, Hassan, Pozi, Almsafir, and Alias (2015) used TPB to understand the effect of green office building on employees’ proenvironmental actions. After reviewing several studies, they announced that the relationship between employees’ pro-environmental actions and office building is

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significant. Increasing environmental awareness shaped the employees’ attitudes towards performing pro-environmental actions.

4.4 APPLICATIONS OF TPB IN TAX RESEACH TPB was successfully applied to several tax research. Bidin, Othman, and Salleh (2015) applied TPB in the Malaysian context by studying factors that could influence Malaysians’ intention towards complying with local sales taxes. They collected data from 338 Malaysians’ tax agents. They confirmed the assumptions of the theory by confirming a positive relationship between attitude, subjective norms, and ethics with intention. Kusumawati, Halim, and Said (2014) studied the taxpaying behavior from the perspective of hotel taxpayers’ in Indonesia. By distributing a questionnaire to 188 hotels, they found that subjective norms and perceived behavioral control affected behavior through intention. Finally, intention was found to affect the behavior of taxpayers. The results were in line with TPB’s assumptions.

4.5 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK TPB assumes that the beliefs about the likelihood of performing a specific behavior will contribute in shaping man’s attitude towards participating in that behavior. Therefore, in the context of this study and in line with its objectives only a portion of TPB model is applied in this study. The relationship referred to is between beliefs, attitude, and intention. In order to clarify the relationships, a simplified model of TPB is shown in Figure 4.2

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Behavioral beliefs

Attitudes

Intention

Figure 4.2 The relationship between Behavioral beliefs, Attitudes, and intention

Attitude was chosen in this research because it is the most influential factor that affect human perception towards performing a certain behavior. Moreover, it is considered as the most distinctive and indispensable concept in the contemporary social psychology. The importance of attitude refers to its usage in predicting diverse aspects of investigation (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Therefore, more than 500 different constructs designed to measure attitude were published between 1968 and 1970 (see Fishbein and Ajzen (1975): page 2). The superiority of the attitude in predicting the intention was addressed by Ajzen (1991). Moreover, attitude has a clear explanatory power in explaining the pro-environmental intention and behavior (Harland, Staats, & Wilke, 1999). In addition, previous literature (Ogunbode & Arnold, 2012; Schultz, Shriver, Tabanico, & Khazian, 2004) have dealt with the beliefs and attitude when they studied the WTP for environmental protection. Subjective norm is not covered in this study. This is because subjective norm is not as strong as attitude in predicting the intention. Ajzen (1991) when introduced the scheme of the TPB’s relationships addressed 16 studies and argued: Attitudes toward the various behaviors made significant contributions to the prediction of intentions, whereas the results for subjective norms were mixed, with no clearly discernible pattern. This finding suggests that, for the behaviors considered, personal considerations tended to overshadow the influence of perceived social pressure.

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Moreover, empirical research in various fields (Godin & Kok, 1996; Harland et al., 1999), as well as a meta-analysis study that covers 185 papers found that subjective norm is a weak predictor for intention (Armitage & Conner, 2001). Since subjective norm is complicated, and not a strong determinant of the intention according to Ajzen (1991) himself, this study has decided not to include it. Furthermore, social and personal expectations need a considerable knowledge about the behavior to be measured (Lebmann & Masson, 2015). In the case of this study, the deep knowledge about ET is unlikely to exist among Palestinians, even though they are aware about ET. Without having enough knowledge, the social pressure and personal motivation will not exist. Similar to subjective norm, perceived behavior control was excluded from this study. The exclusion is due to the fact that perceived control depends on people’s perception of the ease or difficulty in performing the behavior of interest. Assessing the ease or difficulty required past experience with the behavior, and having adequate knowledge related to it (Ajzen, 1991). In Palestine there are no previous attempts to impose ET, thus, Palestinians do not have an experience with the consequences of such tax. Also, as it was mentioned in the above paragraph Palestinians are not fully knowledgeable about ET, even though they are aware about it. Finally, including both subjective norm and perceived behavior control in the light of the aforementioned facts could mislead and confuse the participants as well as affect the accuracy of the study’s results because the requirements for their assessment do not exist. Thus, these two determinants were removed and future research can consider addressing these issues once the Palestinian society has enough knowledge and experience on ET. The main objective of this study is to investigate the Palestinian intention towards ETI. Therefore, based on the above, three predictors were used to reach for it, which are, to investigate the influence of Palestinian beliefs about the consequences of

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climate change on their attitude towards ETI. To investigate the influence of Palestinian beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI on their attitude towards ETI. To examine the influence of Palestinian attitudes towards ETI upon their intention towards ETI. The arrangement of the study’s objectives was done to fit the adopted assumption from the TPB. Previous literature found the beliefs about the severity of climate change consequences as a good predictor for the WTP among nations (Helgeson, van der Linden, & Chabay, 2012). Moreover, the direct experience of environmental problems will increase WTP because it will directly threaten the dwellers’ life (Inglehart, 1995; Ivanova & Tranter, 2008; Laroche et al., 2001; Owen & Videras, 2006). Furthermore, the proximity of risk to climate change will increase belief about its occurrence and severity, leading to higher acceptance towards paying ET (Milfont et al., 2014). On the other hand, the uncertainty or the skepticism about the occurrence of the climate change and its actual or potential impacts will reduce the WTP for nature protection (Zhou, 2014). Therefore, considering the beliefs about the climate change consequences as a predictor of the Palestinian intention towards ETI is expected to clearly elaborate it. Due to applying this predictor in the context of the TPB, it cannot directly affect the intention, but will affect indirectly through attitude. Thus, the influence of the beliefs about the climate change consequences will be studied on the attitude towards ETI. Despite the knowledge about the severity of climate change, the engagement in the pro-environmental policies is still insufficient (Gifford, 2011). Hence, an extraordinary intervention from the government is required. This intervention should be mandatorily imposed because many people will not act pro-environmental without regulation (Lorenzoni et al., 2007). As a response, ET is the new mechanism that is adopted by governments around the world to alleviate the natural degradation

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(Bornstein et al., 2005). ET, as a form of environmental policy, functions by increasing the cost of environmentally harmful products to encourage both consumers and producers to avoid it (Bazin et al., 2004). Therefore, gaining citizens’ support for implementing any environmental policy or imposing a new type of tax is crucial to its success (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015). In line with the TPB’s assumption, which is performing a behavior depends on the expected consequences from it, studying Palestinian beliefs about the potential impact(s) of the ETI will help in expecting their WTP or their intention towards ETI. Based on the theory, if the Palestinians have positive beliefs about the future outcomes of the implementation of ET, they will develop a positive attitude towards ETI. In this regard, a positive belief is expected among Palestinians because it is the most educated nation among all Arab countries (Arabi21, 2015). With a good level of education, Palestinian should, at least, have a minimum knowledge about the pollution problem and its causes as well as the countering tools. So, when a society is aware of the aggregate benefits of adopting ET they will support it. In light of the above, Palestinians’ beliefs about the consequences of climate change will contribute towards constructing their attitude in accepting ET. Moreover, positive beliefs about the potential impact of imposing such tax will lead to a positive attitude towards its acceptance. Furthermore, positive attitude towards ETI as a mediating variable (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) will lead to shaping a positive intention towards its implementation. Finally, the belief of the people is sometimes affected by several background factors, such as demographics, social, and economics (de Leeuw et al., 2015), which should be taken into account. Therefore, the researcher suggested a research conceptual framework, as shown in Figure 4.3.

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Independent variable Beliefs about climate change consequences

H1

Mediating variable Attitude towards ETI

Independent variable Beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI

Dependent variable H3

Intention towards ETI

H2 Control variables

Gender – Age - Marital status – Education – Job – Income - Place of residence Figure 4.3: The conceptual framework of the study

4.6 HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT In this section, the construction of the hypotheses is explained in greater detail. Its construction was based on previous literature, the theoretical assumptions, and context.

4.6.1 Climate Change Climate change is one of the most serious obstacles to community survival (Dienes, 2015). Tackling this problem requires a significant change in behavior, values, and institutions (Lorenzoni et al., 2007). Therefore, extensive research is crucial to enhance understanding on the determinants of climate concerns, specifically in developing countries (Nawrotzki et al., 2014). Moreover, awareness about climate change and people’s perception towards pro-environmental act has been documented in many studies, but to some extent, their relationship remains murky. Thus, Lorenzoni et al. (2007) argued that more researches in the relationship between the awareness about

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climate change and the adoption of pro-environmental actions are required and necessary to uncover its ambiguity. Unlike traditional problems that are directly influential upon human life, the effect of climate change is not immediately obvious. Thus, human perception might wrongly estimate the severity of risks towards their lives (Helgeson, van der Linden, & Chabay, 2012; and Douglas, 1986). As a result of this, people are uncertain about the effects of climate change, and this uncertainty will sometimes lead to skepticism or loss of faith with the occurrence of climate change. In the case of skepticism, the adoption of an environmental policy or support of any PEB will be very difficult, or even impossible in certain cases, as the action’s receivers do not believe that climate change is a problem (Zhou, 2014). Therefore, the link between the awareness about the severity of the climate change and pro-environmental actions is important (Helgeson et al., 2012). Logically, each human should possess basic knowledge about environmental problems and its causes for them to accept pro-environmental actions (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). Therefore, awareness about the causes, effects, potential impact, and the solution for climate change problems are important elements in motivating humans’ WTP to mitigate its effect. Also, some people who are well versed about climate change are WTP significant amounts to mitigate its effects (Duan et al., 2014). Furthermore, the proximity of risk to climate change will increase belief about its occurrence and severity, leading to higher acceptance towards paying environmental taxes (Milfont et al., 2014). Rather, the moral responsibility for each person towards the environment should motivate them to accept pro-environmental actions (Barry & Proops, 1999). This is also in line with the assumptions of TPB, where if the person has positive expectations about performing a certain behavior, they will perform it, and vice versa. Finally, this

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study is carried out in Palestine, and the Palestinians are the most educated Arab nation (Arabi21, 2015), which means that they should possess the knowledge of cause and effect of climate change. Therefore, it is expected that they have a positive relationship with environment, and as per previous literature and the theory’s assumptions, the researcher hypothesized the following: H1: There is a positive relationship between the Palestinians’ beliefs about the climate change consequences and their attitude towards ETI.

4.6.2 The Beliefs about the Potential Impacts of the ETI The cost-benefit expectations are important in determining people’s perception towards any pro-environmental policy. Also, beliefs about the overall benefits from an emission reduction policy will motivate people to accept it (Kim et al., 2013). Moreover, people must understand why their government taxes some goods over others. This will lead them to think about the lethal impact of the taxed goods and be positive about government actions (Casal, 2012). Furthermore, although living expenditure in some cases will increase, it will be much less than the anticipated catastrophes of climate change (Duan et al., 2014), such as extreme rainfall that cause floods (Veronesi et al., 2014); increased temperature of the earth (Al-Amin et al., 2010); increased number of death caused by pollution (Casal, 2012); and desertification (Al-Rabaani & Al-Mekhlaf, 2009). Additionally, some people believe that imposing ET will lead to better social welfare and equality by redistributing income through shifting tax from income to emission generated products (Pour et al., 2013). Rather, human makes reasoned action and chooses the highest benefits alternative (Steg & Vlek, 2009). The citizens’ acceptance of pro-environmental policy depends on the perceived effectiveness (Kim

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et al., 2013). The difficulties in knowing the impact of ET in advance (Baranzini et al., 2000) and the lack of empirical research on the resistance of implementation of ET (Dunne & Clinch, 2003) lead to provide insufficient information for the decisionmakers (Duan et al., 2014). In addition, there is expected positive relationship between WTP and the benefit expected from adopting a pro-environmental policy (Diederich & Goeschl, 2013). Moreover, the nature of Palestinian community as an educated nation, should, at least, have basic knowledge about ET. As a result, the researcher hypothesized the following: H2: There is a positive relationship between the Palestinians’ beliefs about the potential impacts of ET and their attitude towards ETI.

4.6.3 Attitude towards ETI Attitude is very important in guiding PEB towards countering and tackling environmental problems (Al-Rabaani & Al-Mekhlaf, 2009). Attitude can be defined as “the enduring positive or negative feeling about some person, object, or issues” (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). Additionally, Schultz et al. (2004) depicted environmental attitude as a group of beliefs that influence personal intention towards PEBs. Moreover, a pro-environmental attitude has a significant and consistent effect on a PEB (Lebmann & Masson, 2015). Therefore, the importance of public attitude should be considered by the decision makers when they want to introduce a taxation policy (Kim et al., 2013). The attitudinal structure differ from one country to another (Gifford & Nilsson, 2014). In order to have a better understanding of environmental attitudes towards ETI in the context of PEB, it should be analyzed in several contexts. Many studies conducted in different countries support the idea that pro-environmental attitudes affect the

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acceptability of environmental policies, such as Kim et al. (2013). Some factors have been found to affect pro-environmental attitudes towards environmental policy acceptance in literature. If a person has an extended contact with nature, then their proenvironmental attitude in the context of eco-friendly actions will be positive (Collado et al., 2015). Civic cooperation has been found to significantly affect someone’s attitude and intention towards paying higher taxes for environmental protection (Owen & Videras, 2006). Richer nations have higher attitudes regarding pro-environmental policies adoption, due to their post-materialism values (Inglehart, 1995). Occasionally, attitudes towards environmental policy will be expressed when its holders link it to environmental problems (Kim et al., 2013). For instance, when a person experiences environmental risk, his attitude towards paying higher taxes will increase (Torgler & García-Valiñas, 2007), even if they feel close to a risk, their attitudes will be better (Milfont et al., 2014). In parallel with the explanation, eliciting people’s perceptions towards environmental preferences by applying several theories is very important to fully understand their willingness to engage in pro-environmental actions. Also, there is a need for further research to determine the factors that contribute in shaping people’s environmental attitudes (Torgler & García-Valiñas, 2007). Moreover, there is an expected positive relationship between Palestinian beliefs about the consequences of climate change and the potential impacts of ETI with their attitudes towards ETI, so the expected attitude will be positive. Following TPB’s assumption that attitude is one predictor of intention and the fact that there is a positive relationship between them, the researcher hypothesized the following:

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H3: There is a positive relationship between the Palestinians’ attitudes towards ETI and their intention towards ETI.

4.7 THE CONTROL VARIABLES Due to the clear effects discussed in previous literature, the researcher believes that accounting for the control variables in this study is very important in obtaining accurate information about the different segments of Palestinian population. Moreover, the decision makers in the Palestinian government could make use of the results of this study. The provision of accurate and disaggregated information will simplify their respective duties if there are any intentions of imposing new taxes. The imposition process will then be based on citizens’ preference, as will be highlighted in this work. Many background factors are documented in previous research. Females are found to be more environmentally concerned as opposed to males in most studies. This could be attributed to females’ sense of emotional empathy and a stronger response to the harmful effects of degradation environmental conditions (de Leeuw et al., 2015; Gifford & Nilsson, 2014; Nawrotzki et al., 2014; Pisano et al., 2014; Zhou, 2014). Age does not seem to have any discernible effects. However, some studies pointed out that the elderly are more environmentally concerned compared to their younger counterpart (Ivanova and Tranter, 2008; Pinto, Nique, Añaña, and Herter, 2011), due to the decrease in their self-advancement (Ogunbode & Arnold, 2012) and concerns about social status (Pisano et al., 2014). Others documented higher younger WTP compared to the elderly due to the post-materialism value among new generations (Ivanova & Tranter, 2004) and the intervention of different contextual factors, such as cultural values and place of residence (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015).

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A married person is found to be more environmentally concerned and more WTP to save nature compared to his single counterparts in order to maintain a good environment for his spouse and suitable upbringing and wellbeing for his children (Laroche et al., 2001). Obtaining higher level of education makes a person more willing to accept a pro-environmental policy than his uneducated counterparts because having higher education seems to increase the awareness level regarding the climate change consequences (Dorsch, 2011; Ercolano et al., 2012; Lera-López et al., 2014; Pisano et al., 2014; Veronesi et al., 2014). Workers in a white-collar job are assumed to be holding the highest level of environmental concern because they have higher stable situation than other members of the community which will increase their WTP (Ogunbode & Arnold, 2012). The urban dwellers are more environmentally friendly than rural dwellers as it has been documented in several prior literature. This is due to their overestimation of the environmental concern because they lack the contact with nature (Huddart-Kennedy et al., 2009). Finally, the economic situation of a person is regarded as important, and is positively linked to environmental concern and WTP higher taxes because increase in wealth will lead to higher demand on a clean environment ( Nawrotzki et al., 2014; Pisano et al., 2014; Pampel, 2014).

4.8 SUMMARY The theoretical background of the study is highlighted in this chapter. Sufficient details about TPB and its corresponding features were addressed. The validity of TPB’s framework has been proven by many studies within pro-environmental and tax research. Few of those studies were addressed in this chapter. The development of the study’s conceptual framework was addressed and developed based on the context of this study,

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literature, and in parallel with the theory’s assumptions. Similarly, the study’s hypotheses were developed to answer the research’s questions obtained from the study’s objectives. The study’s hypotheses are: H1, there is a positive relationship between Palestinian beliefs about the consequences of climate change and their attitudes towards ETI. H2, there is a positive relationship between Palestinian beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI and their attitude towards ETI. H3, there is a positive relationship between the Palestinian attitudes towards ETI and their intention towards ETI

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CHAPTER FIVE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

5.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter will start by explaining the nature of the study, followed by the selection of the sample, and building the research instrument. The utilization of online survey and Facebook are the next steps. Then, the steps taken after the development of the questionnaire will be addressed. Section seven highlights the variables of the study and its selected process. Section eight highlights the main statistical tests that have been adopted in this research to explore the characteristics of the collected data and to answer the research questions. Finally, section nine summarizes the chapter.

5.1 THE NATURE OF THE STUDY The researcher in this study aimed to conduct an exploratory study. When there is lack of information pertinent to a particular situation, an exploratory study is required (Sekaran, 2003) to attain actual insights and familiarize oneself with it (Kothari, 2004). In other words, exploratory research is the primary attempt in understanding a phenomenon and helps prepare the situation for further research by offering conceptual and theoretical bases. The main emphasis of an exploratory study is to uncover ideas and facts surrounding the situation in question (Kothari, 2004). Exploratory studies help explore the research questions and do not aim to supplement a final or conclusive resolution to a phenomenon. Instead, it offers guidance for research in terms of research framework, the selected sample, and processing collected data (Singh, 2007). Therefore, the main aim of the current exploratory study is to examine Palestinian intentions towards ETI in the event of such a scenario. The researcher used

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several vehicles to realize this; first, investigate the influence of Palestinian beliefs about the consequences of climate change on their attitude towards ETI, second, investigate the influence of Palestinian beliefs about potential impacts of environmental tax on their attitude towards the adoption of environmental taxes, and third, examine the influence of Palestinian attitudes towards ETI upon their intention towards adopting environmental taxes.

5.2 THE SELECTION OF THE SAMPLE Typically, studies have their respective target population. A comprehensive study of all items in that population is called a census. Unfortunately, census is not applicable everywhere, due to the required efforts and resources. Moreover, the time frames of researches are simply too short for such purposes. So, the accurate, or to some extent, precise results, can be obtained by studying parts of a population. This part of the whole population is technically known as the ‘Sample’, and the process of determining the sample is known as the sampling technique. (Kothari, 2004). On the other hand, it is difficult to determine a proper sample group and size that can be guaranteed as being representative of the population being studied (Wilkinson & Birmingham, 2003). As a result of this, the researcher adopted the approach of Kothari (2004) in preparing the sample, as follows: A- Determines the type of universe, which is in this case, a finite universe and clearly defined as the residents of West Bank, Palestine. Selecting the West Bank was due to the inability to elicit responses from residents of the Gaza Strip as a result of political pressure from internal conflict and the occupation. Also, the governmental reports that were used in this research did not cover the Gaza strip because it had a different government from 2006 until 2014.

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B- Determines the sampling unit, which is the individual who lives in the West Bank. C- Preparing a source list, in light of this study it is available from PBCS via the number of population in the West Bank, which is 2,790,331 person (PCBS, 2014). D- When deciding the sample size the researcher in this study identified the parameters of interest, which are residents in the West Bank that are older than 18. Based on available statistics from PCBS, the number of the residents in the West Bank above 15 is 1,741,166 people. Despite the lack of figures for persons who are older than 18, the researcher collected data from the residents who are older than 18. It is also important that people above 18 be selected, as they are able to legally make choices vis-à-vis the implementation of new rules and regulations, and vote. This study is regarded as a self-sponsored research, and the researcher believes that utilizing a sample size provided by Krejcie and Morgan (1970) represents the best choice. They argued that if the population in question is 1,000,000 objects or more, the sample size is 384 objects.

5.3 THE BUILDING OF THE RESEARCH INSTRUMENT After preparing the research design, plan, theoretical framework, constructing the hypotheses, and determining the sample, the data collection should start. In cases of primary data (as the case of this study), several data collection methods are available, such as observation, interview, or questionnaire. These methods can be used combined or separately. This study utilized questionnaire method only. A questionnaire is defined as a pre-shaped set of questions, where respondents document their preferred choices in

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a pre-determined manner (Sekaran, 2003). Wilkinson and Birmingham (2003) documented the benefits of using a questionnaire: i.

A numerous amount of data can be collected using a questionnaire with little effort and costs.

ii.

A well-constructed questionnaire can facilitate the identification of relationships between variables and easily quantifiable data.

iii.

The confidentiality and anonymity of the respondents is guaranteed.

iv.

Frequently use the same set of questions to measure the same group at different times, or in measuring the differences among groups.

v.

With a good coding system, the data of a questionnaire can be analyzed quickly, with little errors.

vi.

Questionnaire provides a high degree of control over the study, and could enable the researcher to direct the topic as well as limit the discussion.

vii.

Easy to prepare. With a very little training, the researcher can develop and manage it quite easily. On the other hand, the usage of a questionnaire in research has several

disadvantages (Greener & Martelli, 2015; Phellas, Bloch, & Seale, 2011; Wyse, 2012), which are highlighted below : i.

Some respondents will mindlessly fill the questionnaire.

ii.

Respondents can abandon the questionnaire easily midway, which is impossible to do in an interview.

iii.

Respondents may not provide accurate and honest answers on certain sensitive questions.

iv.

Respondents may provide inaccurate answers as a result of social desirability bias.

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v.

Lack of the information about the object in question will lead to misleading answers.

vi.

The options that will be provided in the questionnaire could mislead the respondents, such as “somewhat agree”.

vii.

A close-ended questionnaire does not give the respondents a chance to clarify misunderstandings.

viii.

Questionnaires suffer from low response rate. Some steps were taken to overcome these drawbacks. A motivation sentence

was documented in the cover letter, and the severity of the climate change effects that most of the residents are facing daily are projected to urge them to carefully answer and complete the questionnaire. Also, the length of the questionnaire and its wording were designed in a way that eases reading and understanding of the questions, which will increase the number of completed copies. Furthermore, a clear guideline was installed in the questionnaire to guide a respondent on how to perfectly complete it. A brief explanation for the climate change and ET was provided through the questionnaire, which could tackle the problem of the lack the information if it appears. Clear options were provided for the questions alongside several levels of checking the questions being applied to avoid misunderstandings. Moreover, due to the severity of the topic that could directly threaten the life of the residents as well as the technical steps that were taken in preparing the questionnaire, accurate and honest answers are expected, which helps neutralizes the social desirability bias. Finally, the response rate is not considered as a problem in this study. The methodological and technical procedures that have been applied worked very well, at around 88 percent of response rate.

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After highlighting the advantages, disadvantages, and the steps taken to overcome the disadvantages of using a questionnaire, it has been adopted in this research. Using questionnaire is prevalent in pro-environmental research (Schultz et al., 2004, Ogunbode & Arnold, 2012, Kim et al., 2013, Duan et al., 2014, and de Leeuw et al., 2015). In order to prepare it professionally the researcher utilized the procedures outlined in Greener and Martelli (2015): i.

The researcher should decide the amount of information that he intend to obtain from the participants. Gender, Age, Level of Education, Occupation, Income, Marital Status, and Place of Residence are the needed information based on its’ obvious effects that have been documented in the prior literature.

ii.

Through preparing the structured questionnaire both close-ended and multiple choice questions were used. The first served the independent, mediating, and dependent variables of the study, while, the latter served the demographic part. The questions were adopted from previous literature and a considerable number of them were modified to justify its length. Finally, the researcher used a conventional form of a questionnaire in order to simplify its completion and make it easier for the people to cope with it.

iii.

Due to the financial limitations of this study, the researcher constructed it quite simply, in a classical manner using Google website, and distributed it online to keep costs low.

iv.

After preparing the questionnaire a cover letter was attached to provide information about the researcher, the research’s topic, and some technical information regarding the data usage, confidentiality, and anonymity. The researcher used a personal Facebook profile to distribute the questionnaires.

The distribution of the questionnaire was completed in August - September 2015. To

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ensure that all parts of the society are covered, a request was made for several friends to distribute the questionnaires to a specific number of their friends to reach 384 individuals. After the first distribution, two reminders were sent. As a result of this, 384 questionnaires were distributed and 353 responses were collected, but after going through the response, the researcher found that 13 responses were duplicated. Thus, the actual responses received were 340 responses, with a collection rate of 88 percent, accounting for the fact that an acceptable rate is 30 percent (Greener & Martelli, 2015). Five questionnaires were unusable, so the valid questionnaires for analysis were 335. After that, the data were coded for analysis. The codes that were used to indicate the variables are “D= demographic variable” “D1= gender” “D2= age” “D3= Level of education” “D4= occupation” “D5= income” “D6= marital status” “D7= place of residence”. “C= the beliefs about the climate change consequences” “C1-C12= the questions of the scale”. “T= the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI” “T1-T13= the questions of the scale”. “A= the attitude towards ETI” “A1-A12= the questions of the scale”. “I= the intention towards ETI” “I1-I4= the questions of the scale”. “1= strongly disagree, 2= disagree, 3= neutral, 4= agree, 5= strongly agree”. In the results, strongly disagree and disagree were merged under disagreement, while strongly agree and agree were merged under agreement. Then, the researcher went through the data again to ensure there are no invalid codes, which could affect the analysis. No invalid codes were found, and there were no missing answers from any of the questionnaires. This may be due to the control procedures imposed upon the missing answers via the preparation of the survey by making the response to all questions a prerequisite for submission. Next, questions that were introduced to prevent response bias (Pallant, 2011) were re-coded. After screening and cleaning, which is essential to avoid any problems later on (Pallant, 2011), where

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the response bias should be considered. Checking for bias between the mean value of the early and latter respondents indicates a lack of significant differences on most variables, indicating a limited biasing effect throughout the study, making the data ready for utilization.

5.4 ONLINE SURVEY A numerous number of questionnaires are being designed, distributed, and responded to through the internet (Wilkinson & Birmingham, 2003). The utilization of online questionnaire as a research instrument became very famous after 1995. Different populations were targeted from several fields of research by online survey (Toledo et al., 2015). This tool has extensively been used in economic and business research (Kothari, 2004). Sue and Ritter (2007) stated, the emergence of the internet is considered as the major source of the social science in term of observing and gathering data as well as analyze it. Online survey has various advantages, as per (Wilkinson & Birmingham, 2003; Kothari, 2004; Gelder, Bretveld, & Roeleveld, 2010; Toledo et al., 2015): i.

It is an inexpensive tool for data collection.

ii.

If it is used to develop techniques, the results will be tabulated upon receipt, which will facilitate the analysis part.

iii.

It is a speedy and efficient tool, which can facilitate data collection in real time.

iv.

It can ease communication with scattered groups.

v.

It could eliminate interviewer bias.

vi.

Allows reaching out to global participants.

vii.

The best tool for follow-ups.

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viii.

Compel the respondent to complete the answers before submitting the questionnaire.

ix.

Respondents have enough time to complete the questionnaire and submit it.

x.

It can easily reach difficult-to-approach respondents.

xi.

Using this method, a large sample can be obtained, which will increase the reliability of the results. On the other hand, according to Kothari (2004), online surveys are prone to the

following problems: i.

Only educated and cooperative respondents can positively deal with it.

ii.

Once the questionnaire is sent, the researcher will lose control over it.

iii.

Difficult to make any modifications after the questionnaire is distributed.

iv.

Due to the lack of the personal contact, ambiguous questions could result in inaccurate responses.

v.

The inability to know if the targeted respondent is the one who actually completed the questionnaire. The aforementioned drawbacks are not likely to be a problem in this research

due to several contextual characteristics and its methodological procedures. Illiteracy rate among Palestinians is one of the lowest in both Arabic and international levels (PCBS, 2015). Thus, almost all of them are able to deal with the survey. In a small community (as the situation of this study), most of the population is aware of each other; therefore, they did not hesitate to take part in the survey. The control over the survey was maintained throughout the study. The study was available through a link hosted by Google, and was sent personally to the respondents. So, the participation of non-invited people is not possible. Furthermore, the questionnaire was checked many times before sending it to the respondents to ensure its accuracy and clarity to the respondents to

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avoid any re-distribution or incorrect answers. Finally, to ensure if the targeted person who answered the questionnaire or not is not possible, similar to other types of questionnaires (Phellas et al., 2011). As a result of the obvious advantages of using the online survey over its disadvantages and the ability to overcome its drawbacks, the researcher adopted it in this study. Using the online survey poses a question about the validity of using such tool. Wiersma (2012) defined the external validity as “the validity of the survey beyond the study: its generalizability, both to the population and across contexts”. To ensure that the external validity of the questionnaire of this research has not violated, the researcher reviewed many studies (Eynon, Fry, & Schroeder, 2008; Sue & Ritter, 2007; Wiersma, 2012) that have documented the threatens of the validity of this tool. Several conditions must be met to guarantee the valid survey based on the aforementioned literature, which have been considered in this study as follows: i.

The internet coverage: For years the main problem of the web-based-surveys was the internet coverage or the proportion of the population who has access to the internet. Limited coverage of the internet will result to a limited coverage of the population. Unfairly elicited a population will result to misrepresentative of the findings which will not allow for generalizability of the results and will limit the conclusions that will be drawn from it. In the light of this study, the coverage problem did not exist due to the fact that 64.6 percent of the residents in West Bank have internet connection, according to the last estimation that carried out on November 15, 2015 (Internetworldstats, 2015). Despite majority of the citizens have internet access, the researcher followed the advice of Wiersma (2012) by offering a laptop device with a free internet access to those who did not have. Moreover, offering a laptop device

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with free internet access prevented the misrepresentation of some parts of the community that do not have either internet access or Facebook account and give them the opportunity to document their opinions. This step was taken to handle the fears of Sue and Ritter (2007) about the bias of the socioeconomic status among the internet subscribers as well. The effectiveness of the steps taken here clearly appears from the well coverage and representativeness of the Palestinian community that have been documented in Section 6.1.1 of this research. ii.

The quality of the internet connection: The quality of the internet connection is very important in completion the questionnaire. A very weak internet connection will demotivate participants from continue filling the questionnaire and abandon it half way. The quality and the speed of internet is not considered as being a problem facing the internet users in Palestine. Based on a report of the Ministry of Telecom and IT, Palestine occupied the second place after the United Arab Emirates along with Jordan and Morocco regarding the internet speed among Arab countries (Alwatanvoice, 2015). Therefore, the quality of the internet connection did not consider as an obstacle for this research.

iii.

The sample list: Another problem that could face the online surveys, is the availability of an online list of population to select the sample from. Wiersma (2012) argued that until now and for the near future a lack of a source list on the web-based-surveys is a fundamental problem. Moreover, Kothari (2004) stated if such a list is not available, the researcher should prepare one. In the context of this study, the source list is available, which is the list of friends on Facebook account of the researcher and the lists of his friends. Choosing friends’ lists was done in order to the coverage of the study.

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iv.

Low response rate: Most of the online surveys suffer from low respondent rate, which is in many cases below 30 percent (Sue & Ritter, 2007). Studies have identified two reasons for not participating in the online surveys, which are, participants are not motivated regarding the participation in the study. Second, is the case of mail surveys, most of these surveys were received in the SPAM box that usually not open by people. To solve the motivation problem, researchers suggested using prizes for people who complete the questionnaire (Wiersma, 2012). In this research instead of providing any financial prize, a motivational statement has been used. By highlighting the importance of participating in this study to the future of the Palestinian environment. Also, most of the questions in the questionnaire related directly to the participants’ life that could motivate them to complete the survey. For neglecting the e-mail problem, due to the increased time spending on Facebook (see next section for more details), the researcher believes that distributing the questionnaire through Facebook is an alternative way of inviting people to participate in online survey, because the majority of Palestinians are Facebook users 64.6 percent (Internetworldstats, 2015). The procedures that were considered in this step worked out efficiently, that easily can be known from the high respondent rate obtained in this research, which is 88 percent.

v.

The frequent answers: Due to the lack of control over the questionnaire some participants could submit more than one response. Tackling this problem still unavailable. Using IP address to limit the answer is not the best solution because IP address can be changed easily (Wiersma, 2012), in many cases, several computer devices can share one IP especially if they use one network, which could reject some valid answers (Sue & Ritter, 2007). Also, if cookies are used

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in a certain browser, there are many mechanisms to remove it (Wiersma, 2012). Finally, providing a password for each respondent will pose many ethical questions regarding the anonymity of the respondents (see next point for more details). The researcher while preparing the online survey for this study had the option to use some techniques in order to limit the number of answers, but due to the fact that all techniques can be challenged (Gottwig, 2013) he did not use any of them. Another issue, one laptop with a free internet was used to ensure the coverage of the study, therefore, using any tool to reduce the number of answers will make this step useless, by serving one respondent. Moreover, the greater concern for the questionnaire is the response rate, because the majority of the public reject participating surveys, thus, many researchers have considered low response rate of 30 percent as acceptable (Greener & Martelli, 2015). Therefore, intentional submission of more than one answer could not exist. In addition, Gottwig (2013) stated, due to impossible guarantee the security of the survey trust should be placed on the respondents. Trust could be a great element that might tackle most of the questionnaire problems such as frequent response, misinformation, or rejection of participation. If the researcher cannot trust the participants in following the instruction of filling the questionnaire, how can s/he trust their answers of which important conclusions will be drawn from it? Furthermore, McCauley (2014) suggested moving towards intrinsically motivation to reduce the problems, which is in the case of this research, the motivation sentence that was included in the cover letter.

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Finally, one has to emphasize on the argument of Eynon et al. (2008) that “ethics and research methods are interrelated”. vi.

The ethical consideration in the online research: Researchers have many ethical considerations towards the respondents. Mainly, there are three concepts that must not be violated while conducting research, which are, anonymity, confidentiality, and obtaining respondents’ consent. These concepts are derived from the basic human rights to privacy (Eynon et al., 2008). In this research, all of these concepts are maintained. Guaranteed anonymity is the big ethical issue that should be maintained in research, which could increase the response rate and decrease the social desirability bias (Wiersma, 2012). In the case of using password to limit the number of answers, the identity of the respondents will be known at least by the researcher and this is considered as a violation of the human right to keep their answers anonymous. The desire to have accurate data is not an acceptable justification for violating the human right for privacy. Also, this will be violated on the trust that given by respondents to the research upon their answers. Moreover, knowing their answers is considered as an offense to the contract between the researcher and the respondents, which is in the cover letter that the researcher has provided to the respondents and promise to guarantee their anonymity. In addition, the confidentially must be maintained regarding the data usage and the people who have the right to see and use it. Before utilizing the data for other goals the participants’ consent must be obtained, otherwise, a legal and ethical issue will be raised. After achieving all the previous conditions in this study, the researcher stated

that the external validity of the research instrument is met.

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5.5 USING FACEBOOK IN THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Social networking websites have become enormously common in the last few years, occupying the top five visited sites from fifteen famous sites. The rapid growth of these websites attracted the attention of the media, with most attention on Facebook (Joinson, 2008). It was established by Mark Zuckerberg with three co-founders, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin on February 4, 2004 (Facebook, 2015). At the beginning, it was only used by university students (Wilson, Gosling, & Graham, 2012). After 2006, Facebook granted open access, and became accessible to everyone. The new policy extensively extended the number of users, for example, by September 2007, users from London was over 1 million, from New York, more than 355,000 members, and over 800,000 members in Toronto (Joinson, 2008). Currently, Facebook has more than 1.49 billion active users on a monthly basis, and 968 million daily active users on June 30, 2015 (Facebook, 2015). Some of them spend more than 8 hours on Facebook every day (Vishwanath, 2015). In terms of participation, Bonds-raacke (2015) found that males and females use Facebook in college at equal rates. The usage of Facebook is quite diverse, although some studies confirmed that it is mainly used to make friends and keep in touch with each other (Joinson, 2008). Scientists from communication, computer, marketing, management, information technology, psychology, sociology, economics, and law have endorsed the importance of Facebook (Wilson et al., 2012). Chen and Wu (2015) attributed the increasing teaching and researching activities on Facebook due to increasing time spent on it by students. So, teachers can use Facebook to guide their students in their courses, share mutual ideas, and complete learning via Facebook (Chen & Wu, 2015). The hugely developed Facebook usage is accompanied with increased research, particularly social research. Scientists can observe people’s behavior in real circumstances, test

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hypotheses, and select respondents. These researches are not only for social scientists, but several disciplines as well, where results were published in many journals and proceedings (Wilson et al., 2012). Furthermore, suggestions has been made by researchers that Facebook is a useful instrument to motivate effective academic practices (Madge, Meek, Wellens, & Hooley, 2009). Thus, many researchers believe that using Facebook in research will continue, and experience improvements (Moreno, Grant, Kacvinsky, & Fleming, 2012). In light of the clearer facts of the advantages of using Facebook in research, the researcher used Facebook in this study to distribute the questionnaires via an active link to a website hosted by Google.

5.6 STEPS TAKEN AFTER QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT After the initial preparation of the questionnaire, the researcher verified the content with his supervisor. Then, the validity test was performed. It measures the extent the survey measures are planned (Gelder et al., 2010). In other words, it is the opinion of experts on the content of the questionnaire, and if it really measured the object in question. The validity test for the questionnaire was done via two levels, at the first; the main amendment is split to make it shorter. However, this increased the number of questions from 60 – 70, while at the second, two questions’ wording and clarity of meaning were modified. After the validity test, the final version of the questionnaire was translated to Arabic and distributed on a small sample from the actual population as a pilot study. A pilot study is a rehearsal and replica of a real study. Through pilot study, the researcher can test the questionnaire for any weaknesses, because a fresh pair of eyes will be more adept at picking up on any errors. This will allow the researcher to reword or rearrange

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the questions. The researcher also has the opportunity to observe the time taken by individuals to complete the questionnaire, which could prove useful in preparing the final version of the questionnaire (Wilkinson & Birmingham, 2003; Kothari, 2004). The pilot study for this research covered 38 respondents, which is 10 percent of the final sample of 384 respondents. The pilot study was conducted through similar means of the actual study, which are Facebook and Google. The researcher asked the participants to report the time taken to complete the questionnaire. Some numbers were given, amounting to an average of 11 minutes for seventy questions. The highest reported time was 17 minutes, while the lowest was 6 minutes. After that, the researcher conducted the Cronbach’s Alpha (reliability) and Exploratory Factor Analysis. At the beginning, a reliability test was performed for four parts of the questionnaire. The reliability analysis is a statistical test measure to which extent the survey provides similar measurements regardless of who the participant is, or when and where the answer was given (Gelder et al., 2010). In other words, it is a test of measuring internal consistency of the scale or the direction homogeneity of the scale in each section. Some results were obtained from this test, but the researcher preferred to conduct exploratory factor analysis before making any decision on the questions. Despite the fact that exploratory factor analysis requires more than 300 responses to generate accurate results, the researcher performed it anyway in parallel with the Cronbach’s Alpha for comparison. Exploratory Factor Analysis is a statistical test performed at the initial stage of the research to determine the interrelationships between the variables and grouping them (Pallant, 2011). The reliability test was conducted again after obtaining the results of factor analysis. The new results support the results that were obtained from the first time

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conducting reliability test. In light of the results and reported time, the number of questions was reduced as per the following outlines: i.

Section two, the beliefs about the climate change consequences: The number of questions was 18, reduced to 12, with a reliability of 79 percent.

ii.

Section three, the beliefs about the potential impacts of the environmental tax: The questions in this section were reduced from 24 to 13, with a reliability of 92 percent.

iii.

Section four, the attitude towards the implementation of environmental tax: The questions in this section were reduced from 17 to 12, with a reliability of 80 percent.

iv.

Section five, the intention towards the implementation of environmental tax: The number of questions in this section remained unchanged, at 4 questions, with a reliability of 95 percent.

5.7 THE VARIABLES OF THE STUDY In this section, a brief explanation was given in the case of the variables used in this research. Most variables in this research were used in the previous literature, except the second independent variable, which is Palestinian beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI. The variables of this research are grouped into four categories, which are independent, mediating, control, and dependent variables, and are detailed in the following subsections.

5.7.1 Dependent Variable Palestinian intention towards the ETI is the dependent variable of this research. Choosing this dependent variable was based on frequent calls from previous literature

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for eliciting citizens’ perception towards a specific pro-environmental policy in a separate research. Previous literature elicited perception for PEB in general with several scenarios. Many researchers have questioned the validity and usefulness of studying general PEB. Nordlund and Garvill (2002) pointed out that it is better to study a specific eco-friendly behavior. Therefore, this research came as a direct response for the calls of previous literature to study Palestinian perception towards ET by studying their intention towards ETI. The questions that have been used to measure this variable were quoted from literature, as shown in Appendix 1. A five-point Likert scale, starting from strongly disagrees to strongly agree, is used to measure the questions of this variable. Most environmental literature used Likert scale for this purpose, Schultz et al. (2004), Kim et al. (2013), Duan et al. (2014), and de Leeuw et al. (2015) are examples of environmental research using the Likert scale.

5.7.2 Independent and Mediating Variables To reach the dependent variable explained above, several avenues were implemented in this study, namely beliefs about the climate change consequences, beliefs about the potential impacts and attitude towards ETI. The following subsections explain the aforementioned vehicles.

5.7.2.1 The first Independent Variable The first independent variable is belief about the consequences of climate change. This factor has been found by many studies to have a major effect in influencing the WTP (Lorenzoni et al., 2007; Helgeson et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2013; Zhou, 2014; Nawrotzki et al., 2014; Clements et al., 2015) . When the citizens’ are aware about the

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consequences of climate change or feel proximity to risk, they tend to support proenvironmental policies. Even though several research addressed the issues of climate change, there are still ambiguities regarding its effects. Thus, Lorenzoni et al. (2007) argued that increased research in the relationship between the awareness about climate change and adopting pro-environmental actions are required and necessary to uncover this ambiguity. Therefore, this research will be focused on the effect of climate change. The questions that have been used to measure this variable were fully quoted from previous literature, as shown in Appendix 1. Similar to the dependent variable, the independent and mediating variables were measured using five-point Likert scale, as per literature.

5.7.2.2 The Second Independent Variable The second independent variable is beliefs about potential impacts of ETI. Dissimilar to other scales, the scale of measuring this variable was independently developed by the researcher. The researcher tried to check the validity of using citizens’ belief about potential impacts of ETI as an indicator of their attitude towards ETI. Also, this attempt is essential because the theory assumes that performing a certain behavior depends on the expected consequences from that behavior, thus, the researcher must utilize it as an independent variable. To the best of the researcher knowledge, this is the first study utilizing citizens’ beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI in predicting their intention towards ETI. The construction of this scale came from several arguments; some people believe that imposing ET will lead to improved social welfare and equality by redistributing income through shifting tax from income to emission-generating products (Pour et al., 2013). Rather, it is based on the assumption that a person is reasonable and

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will do what is beneficial to him (Steg & Vlek, 2009); citizens’ acceptance of proenvironmental policy depends on its perceived effectiveness (Kim et al., 2013), due to the difficulties of being aware of the impacts of ET in advance (Baranzini et al., 2000) and the lack of empirical research on the resistance towards ETI (Dunne & Clinch, 2003) that lead to the provision of insufficient information to decision-makers (Duan et al., 2014). This custom-built scale intends to bridge these gaps. The questions of the scale are guided by the results and conclusions of several studies focusing on the actual and potential impacts of the ET or environmental tax reforms on many aspects within several contexts. The effect of the ET on the environment, life style, life quality, and economic situation are examples of fields being covered by those studies. This variable is embodied in the questionnaire in the third section. Appendix 1 shows the questions of this section and the studies used to construct it.

5.7.2.3 The Mediating Variable The fourth section is the mediating variable, which is the attitude towards ETI. Based on TPB, the attitude towards performing a specific behavior is a summed of beliefs towards the behavior and a predictor for the intention to do so. The mediating role of the attitude has documented in the research since 1931 when the debate about it launched (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Thurstone (1931), Doob (1947), Lott (1955), Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum (1957), Staats and Staats (1958), Rihne (1958) are researcher confirmed the mediating role of the attitude as cited in Fishbein and Ajzen (1975). In addition, the mediating role of the attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control was addressed in Ajzen (1991) and drawn in Ajzen (2006).

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Moreover, the attitude is vital in guiding PEB towards countering and tackling environmental problems (Al-Rabaani & Al-Mekhlaf, 2009). Additionally, Schultz et al. (2004) depicted environmental attitude as a group of beliefs influencing personal intention towards PEB. Moreover, a pro-environmental attitude has a significant and consistent effect on PEBs (Lebmann & Masson, 2015). The structure of the attitude differs from country to country (Gifford & Nilsson, 2014). Thus, to better understand the environmental attitudes towards ETI in the form of PEBs, it should be analyzed in several contexts. Many studies, conducted in different countries, support the idea that pro-environmental attitudes affect the acceptability of environmental policies (Kim et al., 2013). Thus, this research looks towards people’s attitude towards ETI and its consistency with their intention to perform that behavior. The studies utilized to quote the questions are shown in Appendix 1.

5.7.3 Control Variables Other factors could affect Palestinian intentions towards ETI. Most previous literature documented the effects of social, economic, and demographic factors on WTP among nations. Therefore, the researcher believes that considering them as control variables in this study is very important in obtaining accurate information about the different segments of Palestine’s population. Moreover, the decision makers in the Palestinian government could use the results of this study. Therefore, providing accurate and disaggregated information will make their duties easier, if there is any intention of imposing such tax. Prior to imposing such taxes, citizens’ preference should be taken into account in this work. Carlsson et al. (2012); Ercolano et al. (2012); Gifford and Nilsson (2014); KatzGerro et al. (2014); Milfont et al. (2014) are some of the studies that addressed the

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importance of using such factors in pro-environmental research. The researcher determined seven characteristics used as control variables, which are, Gender, Age, Level of Education, Occupation, Income, Marital Status, and Place of Residence. Appendix 1 shows the sources of demographic factors in this study.

5.8 THE STATISTICAL TESTS This section is devoted to exploring the statistical test used in this research. Three main types of data analysis were used, namely descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. Other tests have been used to ensure that the underlying assumptions for the main tests of this study are achieved. The following sub-sections provided detailed illustrations of the aforementioned analysis methods.

5.8.1 Descriptive Statistics Descriptive statistics are usually performed after ensuring that the data is clean from any violations. Descriptive statistics will help explore the characteristics of the sample and address specific research questions (Pallant, 2011). In other words, a simple summary about the main features of the data can be obtained while conducting descriptive statistics. The number and the percentage of gender, the average of the age, the level of education, and any other information can be described using descriptive statistics. Moreover, descriptive statistics are very important in guaranteeing the required characteristics for other statistical tests (Pallant, 2011).

5.8.2 Correlation The strength and direction of the relationships among the variables can be determined using the Pearson correlation. It provides the correlation coefficient for a bivariate

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relationships (Sekaran, 2003). A positive correlation value indicates that the relationship between the variables is a positive relationship. This means that when a variable changes, another will change in the same direction, while a negative correlation value indicates that the relationship between the variables is negative. This implies that when a variable changes, another will change in the opposite direction. The correlation values falls between 1 and -1. 1 indicates a perfect positive relationship, while -1 indicates a perfect negative relationship (Pallant, 2011). Obtaining a correlation coefficient between .10 and .30 indicates a small relationship, between .30 and .50 indicates a medium relationship, and above .50 till 1 indicates a large relationship (Cohen, 1988). The correlation value implies that one variable participates in knowing the variance of the other at that specific percent. The correlation value gives the strength and direction of the relationship, while the significance of the relationships implies the extent that we can rely on the results or confidence level. The significance of the correlation is very sensitive to the sample size. A sample size more than 100 could make a small correlation reach a significant level. Unlike a small sample of less than 100, in this case, a moderate correlation value could not reach a significant level (Pallant, 2011).

5.8.3 T-test and ANOVA Detailed comparing tests will be done using T-test and ANOVA to know exactly the effects of control variables on the intention towards the ETI. A t-test is a statistical test, performed to determine the mean and significance differences between the two groups (Hair et al., 2014). Those two groups should be categorical and continuous. The independent variable should be categorical and have two levels, while the dependent variable should be continuous (Pallant, 2011).

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Univariate analysis of variance, or ANOVA, especially ONE-WAY ANOVA, has been adopted in this research. ANOVA is a statistical test used to compare the mean scores of more than two groups in the independent variable (Hair et al., 2014). It’s called analysis of variance, because it is its duty to determine the variability of scores among and within the groups. The F-ratio in ANOVA is an indicator of variability between and within the groups, via the variance. A greater value of F indicates greater variability between groups than within the groups (Pallant, 2011). However, the size of the sample can eliminate the detrimental effects, such as non-normality for certain variables. More than 100 is a good sample size for eliminating detrimental effects (Hair et al., 2014).

5.8.4 Regression Analysis The explanatory power of the model and the prediction power of the independent variables can both be obtained using a simple and straightforward statistical technique called regression analysis, which runs the test with one independent and one dependent variable, while running the test with more than one independent variable and one dependent variable is called multiple regression analysis. By conducting a multiple regression analysis, each independent variable will be weighed with its predictive power that contributes towards shaping the explanatory power for the model as a whole. Several conditions have to be met is the accuracy of the multiple regression test is to be maintained. First, the researcher must be able to divide the variables into independent and dependent categories. Second, the variables should be in metric. However, certain nonmetric variables could be used after it is converted via codes. Third, achieve the term of multicollinearity, which is under the correlation .90. Multicollinearity is the correlation between the variables if the variables have typical linearity, so the predictive power for that variable will combine and represent just the

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common prediction values, while the specific prediction value for each will be eliminated. In this case, it would be better to delete one of the variables, because just measuring the same object like others (redundant variable) and the explanatory power of the model will increase as a result of deletion (Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, 2014). Fourth, similar effects of multicollinearity will occur if singularity occurs. A singularity is a case of having more than one scale in one independent variable. Fifth, to ensure the generalizability of the result, an adequate sample size should be obtained. The ratio of 5:1 should not be violated; it implies that for each independent variable, at least 5 observations should be obtained. The ratio of 15 to 20 observations for each independent variable is desired, and the results can be generalized within this ratio. Sixth, multiple regression is a sensitive test for outliers, therefore ensuring that normal distributions will result in increased accuracies (Pallant, 2011; Hair et al., 2014). Multiple regression is divided into many types, namely stepwise multiple regression, hierarchical multiple regression, and standard multiple regression. The latter two types are used here. Standard multiple regression depends on the simultaneous entrance of the variables. It is useful when the researcher has many variables and wants to know its predictive power on the dependent variable simultaneously, or how much variance each variable explains (Pallant, 2011). Moreover, using hierarchical multiple regression, the researcher can enter the predictors as separate equations into many models. For example, the first model contains the first predictor, while the second model contains the first and the second predictors, and the third model contains the first, second, and the third predictors. The function of the steps in this type of regression analysis will help a researcher identify changes in the coefficient and the significant of the predictors as a result of the introduction of new ones. Then, the researcher can

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articulate a mediation relationship if the coefficient and the significant of the previous predictors are significantly reduced as a result of introducing the new variable, while if the relationship did not change significantly, the researcher can articulate a lack of mediation relationship. Therefore, using hierarchical multiple regression was done in this research to facilitate the exploration of the mediation relationship. In parallel to that, Sobel test to calculate the indirect effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable was used. The Sobel test was conducted based on the explanation of Baron and Kenny (1986). According to Baron and Kenny (1986), if the obtained value from Sobel test is significantly different from zero, the mediation relationship is present, and vice versa. Finally, the regression equation for this research is: Intention= B0 + B1 X1 + B2 X2 + B3 X3 + B4 X4 + B5 X5 + B6 X6 + B7 X7 + B8 X8 + B9 X9 + B10 X10 + E Whereas: Intention= The Palestinians’ intention towards environmental tax implementation. X1= The beliefs about the climate change consequences. X2= The beliefs about the potential impacts of the environmental tax. X3= The attitude towards environmental tax implementation. X4= Gender. X5= Age. X6= Level of education. X7= Occupation. X8= Income. X9= Marital status. X10= Place of residence.

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B= The slop or the coefficient of the explanatory power for the regression variables. And the B0 is the constant term or the value of the intention when all other variables are zero. E= The error term.

5.9 SUMMARY This chapter detailed the procedures accounted for to answer the research questions, from the selection of the sample to the step-by-step building of the research’s instrument, followed by online construction of the questionnaire on Google, and using Facebook to distribute the questionnaire, all of which were addressed and justified. The process is explained post-development of the first questionnaire, followed by highlighting the variables of the study, and from where it is extracted. The main statistical tests adopted in this research were illustrated to explain the nature of the collected data. The following chapter discusses the details of the collected data, the statistical analysis, and the answers to the research questions.

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CHAPTER SIX DATA ANALYSIS AND THE RESULTS

6.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter is devoted to analyzing the data collected via empirical investigation. The results of several statistical tests were highlighted and compared with other studies to answer the research questions, which are do the Palestinians’ beliefs about the climate change consequences influence their attitude towards ETI? Do the Palestinians’ beliefs about the potential impacts of environmental tax influence their attitude towards the ETI? Do Palestinian attitudes towards ETI influence their intention towards its implementation? Do Palestinians intend to implement environmental taxes? The Theory of Planned Behavior forms the theoretical background of the study. TPB assumes that the beliefs will affect the intention of performing a certain behavior via attitude. Therefore, the flow of the research questions is in line with the theory’s assumption. The first section details the descriptive analysis for all of the components of the questionnaire, followed by testing the validity and reliability of the research instrument. The third section involves explaining the results from the normality tests. The correlation analysis, T-test, and ANOVA analysis are discussed in the fourth and fifth sections, respectively. The sixth section highlighted the data associated with regression analysis. Section seven contains extensive discussion of the results. Finally, section eight summarizes the entire chapter.

6.1 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS The 335 questionnaires that were collected, as mentioned in Chapter 5, were characteristically diverse. The researcher started exploring its content by running

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descriptive statistics, as it will help explore the characteristics of the sample and address specific research questions (Pallant, 2011). In other words, a simple summary about the main features of the data can be obtained while conducting descriptive statistics.

6.1.1 The Analysis of the Demographic Data The analysis revealed that 189 males participated in this research, making up 56.4 percent of the sample, while there were 146 female participants, accounting for 43.6 percent of the sample size. This is compared to the gender ratio in the West Bank, where it was 50.8 percent male and 49.2 percent female. Moreover, the age categories show that 68.4 percent from the sample fall into the first category, which is 18-30 years, while, the second, third, and fourth categories consist of 20 percent, 9.3 percent, and 2.4 percent, respectively. The actual distribution of the age9 among the population revealed that 37.6 percent were less than 14 years, 30.1 percent were between 15-29 years, and 4.9 percent were above 60 years old. This implies that 67.7 percent of the total population is younger than 29 years old. Thus, the representation of the population in this research is quite accurate. The results for the other characteristics indicate that 86 percent of the sample hold university certification; 51.3 percent are full-time employees; 48.7 percent fall in the first category of income; 63 percent are married; and 69.6 percent of the sample live in a city. Table 6.1 tabulates the description of the demographic information of the sample.

9

All the actual data regarding the characteristics of the Palestinian community were extracted from PCBS.

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Table 6.1 The results of the descriptive statistics Characteristics Gender Male Female

Frequency

Percentage

189 146

56.4 43.6

229 67 31 8

68.4 20 9.3 2.4

Age 18-30 years 31-45 years 46-60 years More than 60 Level of education Uneducated Primary Lower secondary school Higher secondary school Diploma University

0 0 2 20

0 0 .6 6

25 288

7.5 86

Occupation Full time employed Part time employed Self employed Unemployed Retired At home Student

172 14 44 30 8 23 44

51.3 4.2 13.1 9 2.4 6.9 13.1

Income Less than NIS 3300 NIS 3300- NIS 6600 More than NIS 6600

163 120 52

48.7 35.8 15.5

Marital status Single Married Divorced/ Widowed

122 211 2

36.4 63 .6

Place of residence City/ Urban Village/ Rural Camps

233 97 5

69.6 29 1.5

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6.1.2 The Analysis of the Climate Change Beliefs The beliefs about the consequences of climate change, which is the first independent variable: This section contains 12 questions, all of which assesses people’s awareness about the cause, severity, and potential impact of climate change. Generally, the results revealed that Palestinians are aware about the cause of the climate change, its effects, and potential impacts on humans and the planet. Table 6.2 shows a summary of the scores for each statement.

Table 6.2 Summary of the statements’ scores in the climate change section No 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12

Statement Disagreement Climate change is a manmade phenomenon. 17.1% I have no idea about the causes of climate change. 76.1% Climate change is a serious problem. 3.3% I think climate change is a real phenomenon and we cannot stop its effects. 62.7% Climate change could damage yourself. 5.6% Climate change could damage your society. 4.2% Climate change could seriously affect your future generations. 5.1% Climate change could seriously affect plant and animal. 2.0% Climate change could affect Palestinians’ daily activities. 4.1% Climate change could cause spread of diseases that could affect Palestinians’ health. 2.9% The severity of the climate change’s claims are exaggerated. 71.3% You have experienced climate change effects. 5.7%

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Neutral

Agreement

11.6%

71.3%

15.5%

8.4%

4.5%

92.2%

11.9%

25.4%

3.6%

90.8%

0

95.8%

7.5%

87.4%

1.2%

96.8%

4.8%

91.1%

6.3%

90.8%

14.3%

14.4%

9.6%

84.7%

When they asked if climate change is a manmade phenomenon, 71.3 percent agreed. This percentage is close to but greater than the Chinese, where 70 percent of them share similar beliefs with the Palestinians (Duan et al., 2014). Also, the Palestinian beliefs was greater than New Zealanders’, with 53 percent of them having similar ideas (Morrison et al., 2013). 76.1 percent of the Palestinians believe that they are aware of the cause of climate change, while 59 percent of the UK’s public claimed to be aware of the cause of climate changes (Lorenzoni et al., 2007). Compared to Australians and Americans, 92.2 percent of the Palestinians’ believe that climate change is a real problem, while 41 percent of the Australians and 29 percent of the Americans have similar beliefs (Hanson, 2011). On the other hand, 85 percent of the British believe that the consequences of climate change need decades to be discernable (Lorenzoni et al., 2007). Even though 92.2 percent of the Palestinians considered climate change as a serious problem, only 62.7 percent believe that they can take actions to mitigate its consequences. Similarly, in China, 65 percent of the sample thought that the consequences of the climate change may be unavoidable, but 69 percent also believe that man could invent some ways to tackle the consequences of climate changes (Duan et al., 2014), which is higher than Palestinians by 6 points. When asked about the potential effects of climate change on themselves, society, future generation, plants and animals, 90.8 percent, 95.8 percent, 87.4 percent, and 96.8 percent of Palestinians agree with the severe effects of the climate change on each subject, respectively, while 44 percent of the Britons believe that they being affected or will be affected by climate change (Lorenzoni et al., 2007). In America, the Americans consider climate change as having severe consequences on themselves, society, future generation, and animals and

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plants, with 53 percent, 57 percent, 74 percent, and 72 percent, respectively (Maibach et al., 2011). Moreover, 91.1 percent of Palestinians believe that climate change could affect their daily activities, while 90.8 percent of them believe in the contribution of climate change towards the spread of diseases. In China, 75 percent of the sample believe in the potential contribution of climate change in troubling their daily lives and spreading diseases (Duan et al., 2014). Finally, 71.3 percent of the Palestinians considered claims about the severity of the climate change as not being exaggerated: with 84.7 percent of them actually experiencing the effects of climate change in their life. Similarly, 85 percent of Chinese experienced the effects of climate change (Duan et al., 2014), while only 24.7 percent of the Britons considered the claims of climate change to be unreliable (Lorenzoni et al., 2007).

6.1.3 The Analysis of the Beliefs about the Environmental Tax Impacts A belief about potential impacts of ETI is the second independent variable: This section assesses Palestinians beliefs about potential impacts of the ETI via 13 questions. Unlike other scales, the researcher, as mentioned in Chapter 5, personally developed the scale used here. This scale has been successfully used in this research, proving its ability in predicting people’s attitude towards ETI. The validity and reliability of this scale, as shown in the next section, is clear evidence that it is a useful for such purposes. Table 6.3 shows a summary of the scores for each statement.

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Table 6.3 Summary of the statements’ scores in the beliefs about the potential impacts of the ETI section No 1 2 3

4

5

6

7

8 9 10 11

12

13

Statement Environmental tax could lead to reduction in air pollution. Environmental tax could lead to reduction in waste amount. Environmental tax is created by governments to fund nature protection. To become effective environmental tax should be imposed on all products that cause pollution. Environmental tax could change consumers’ behavior by directing their consumption habits through prices. Environmental tax could increase citizens’ awareness about environment. Environmental tax could make people more interested about maintaining good environment. Environmental tax could save resources for future generations. Environmental tax could increase the quality of life. Environmental tax could decrease the cost of production. Environmental tax could lead to increase the economic and social inequalities. Environmental tax could cost a polluter the real cost for a product. Environmental tax could safe animal from extinction.

Disagreement

Neutral

Agreement

16.0%

9.6%

74.4%

17.3%

14.6%

68.1%

17.6%

22.7%

59.7%

9.5%

9.9%

80.6%

10.2%

15.2%

74.6%

9.0%

10.1%

80.9%

8.7%

11.6%

79.7%

7.1%

8.7%

84.2%

10.2%

17%

72.8%

30.8%

33.1%

36.1%

26.9%

34.9%

38.2%

18.0%

13.7%

68.3%

11.7%

16.4%

71.9%

Generally, Palestinians have a positive belief about the potential impacts of ETI. They believe that such tax will lead to a decrease in air pollution, waste amount, and consumption of resources. So, when asked if ETI will decrease air pollution and the amount of waste, 74.4 percent and 68.1 percent of them agreed, successively. The

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believe that ET was created by governments to tackle environmental problems was held by 59.7 percent of the respondents, and for it to be effective, it should be imposed on all resources of pollution, with 80.6 percent of the respondents believing this. They believe that ETI will affect citizens’ life by changing their consumption habits, making them aware of the environment and more interested in maintaining a good environment, at 74.6 percent, 80.9 percent, and 79.7 percent, respectively. Moreover, they think that ETI will reduce resource consumption, which will benefit future generations, increase quality of life, and decrease the cost of the products by 84.2 percent, 72.8 percent, and 36.1 percent, respectively. On the other hand, they believe that ETI will lead to increased economic and social inequalities by about 38.2 percent. Simultaneously, they believe that it will cost the polluters the actual cost for their products, and save animals from extinction, with 68.3 percent and 71.9 percent agreeing, respectively.

6.1.4 The Analysis of the Attitude towards Environmental Tax Implementation The attitude towards ETI is the mediating variable in this research: TPB assumes that beliefs about the likelihood of a behavior will affect the intention to perform that behavior via attitude. Thus, using 12 questions, this section investigated Palestinian attitudes towards ETI as a predictor of their intention towards its implementation. A positive attitude towards ETI was documented in this research, with most participants agreeing with it. Table 6.4 shows a summary of the scores for each statement.

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Table 6.4 Summary of the statements’ scores in the attitude towards ETI section No 1

2 3 4 5

6 7

8

9

10 11 12

Statement Disagreement Paying more money for using renewable and sustainable energy is acceptable. 13.4% Nature protection deserves spending more money. 8.1% The duty of government is to reduce environmental pollution. 4.8% Citizens should pay extra money in order to save environment. 23.8% I prioritize environmental protection over economic prosperity. 13.7% We should worry too much about the economic situation. 14.0% The Palestinian government should start regulating the environmental pollution. 1.7% Palestinian government should invest in research and development to solve the pollution problem. 6.0% I think Palestinian government should impose environmental tax in order to save the nature. 15.8% Environmental tax is fair. 20.0% The climate change problem should be addressed. 1.2% The Palestinian government should take immediate actions to mitigate the effects of climate change at any cost. 8.7%

Neutral

Agreement

15.5%

71.1%

10.7%

81.2%

6%

89.2%

26.6%

49.6%

25.1%

61.2%

0

86.0%

7.5%

90.8%

0

94.0%

20% 32.5%

64.2% 47.5%

4.8%

94.0%

19.7%

71.6%

When they asked about paying more to use renewable and sustainable energy, 71.1 percent agreed. This is greater than the Spaniards, where only 23 percent of them are WTP more to use renewable and sustainable energy (Ramos et al., 2015), and lesser than Americans, where 83 percent of them are willing to pay extra to use renewable and sustainable energy (Solomon & Johnson, 2009). Moreover, 81.2 percent of the Palestinians consider the protection of nature as deserving of their money. 49.6 percent believe that citizens should pay extra to preserve the environment.

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Although Palestinians support paying more to protect nature, 89.2 percent of them believe it is the duty of the government to decrease pollution and protect the environment. However, it could also be the personal responsibility of Palestinians to impose tax to protect nature, with 64.2 percent agreeing with the statement “I think Palestinian government should impose the environmental tax in order to save the nature”. Ramos et al. (2015) cannot find such support, where they were looking for a relationship between WTP for environmental protection and households with environmental attitudes among the Spaniards. Furthermore, 89 percent of Britons need incentives from the government to look after environment (Lorenzoni et al., 2007). In line with previous results, 61.2 percent of Palestinians prioritize environmental protection over economic growth. This could be channeled through governmental intervention via laws and regulations; with 90.8 percent of them believing that the government should start issuing such rules and regulations to counter the effect of pollution. However, the emphasis on accounting for the economic situation, were summarized in this manner by 86 percent of the respondent “We should worry too much about the economic situation”. 83 percent of Chinese respondents believed that the government should balance environmental protection and economic prosperity (Duan et al., 2014). Also, 70 percent of Americans, as a result of being concerned about the consequences of climate change, support the government in its action against pollution (Maibach et al., 2011). Although 47.5 percent of Palestinian believe that ET is fair, and 94 percent of them believe that the climate change problem should be addressed, as well as 71.6 percent believing that its being addressed at any cost as acceptable, all these issues did not relieve the government from investing in research and development in order to find solutions to environmental problems, as elucidated by 94 percent of them. In terms of

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the ET fairness, 51 percent of Americans and 44 percent of the Britons believed that it is fair (Kim et al., 2013). So, the results reported in this work is close to the ones reported for Britons and Americans, where the Americans are slightly higher than the Palestinians at around 3.5 points, while Britons are lesser than Palestinians at similar amount of points. Regarding addressing the climate change problem, 68.5 percent of Britons believed that their government is not doing enough to tackling the problem (Lorenzoni et al., 2007). The support of addressing the climate change dilemma at any cost vary among nations, 85 percent of Chinese, 41 percent of Australian, and 29 percent of Americans are supportive (Duan et al., 2014; Hanson, 2011).

6.1.5 The Analysis of the Intention towards Environmental Tax Implementation The intention towards ETI is the dependent variable of this research: Using 4 questions, this section examined Palestinian intention towards ETI in such situation. Table 6.5 shows a summary of the scores for each statement.

Table 6.5 Summary of the statements’ scores in the intention towards ETI section No 1

2

3 4

Statement Disagreement I intend to pay new taxes if I am sure that the money could be used to protect nature. 13.5% I intend to increase my current taxes if the increment amount could reduce the environmental pollution. 15.3% I intend to support the government if they introduce environmental tax. 16.8% I intend to accept the government decision if they create initiative for environmental tax. 16.8%

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Neutral

Agreement

12.2%

74.3%

15.2%

69.5%

17.9%

65.3%

16.4%

66.8%

Generally, Palestinians intend to implement ET, as the results indicated that 74.3 percent of the Palestinians intend to accept an ET if they are sure that the revenue of this tax will be used to tackle environmental damage. Using this result, the researcher can argue that Palestinians intend to accept ET as a new form of tax. This answers the fourth research question of this study. Compared to the acceptance from other nations such as Australians, at 57.4 percent (Morrison et al., 2013), 23.5 percent among 30 countries in a cross-national study (Owen & Videras, 2006), and a rejection of 47 percent from Chinese (Duan et al., 2014), Palestinians have the highest acceptance rate. Another form of ET, which is not a new tax, but incremental on current taxes, are accepted as well. 69.5 percent of Palestinians agree with the statement “I intend to increase my current taxes if the incremental amount could reduce the environmental pollution”. This value is close to, but higher than Australians, when they accepted to pay higher electricity fees in order to protect the environment by 65 percent (Duan et al., 2014). Finally, 65.3 percent and 66.8 percent of Palestinians intend to support and accept governmental decision of the adoption of ET if taken, respectively. Both support and accept of the governmental decision reflect the citizens’ trust of the government (Kim et al., 2013). The differences between the levels of intention towards ETI, whether a new tax, or an incremental tax, and the level of intention towards supporting and accepting the governmental decision are very few. Therefore, there is a clear trust from residents who intend to adopt ET with the Palestinian government.

6.2 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY The validity of a scale is to what extent the scale measure what it wants to. Construct validity refers to the level of consistency between the obtained results and theoretical assumption. Testing the convergent and discriminant validities can execute construct

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validity (Sekaran, 2003). There are three methods of checking the convergent validity of the scale, namely average variance extracted, factor loading, and reliability. Table 6.6 shows the results of the convergent validity of the scale in this research.

Table 6.6 Results of the validity Section Climate change Tax effects Attitude Intention

Average factor loading .68 .69 .64 -

Average variance extracted .46 .48 .41 -

Reliability .82 .87 .74 .91

The previous table shows the results of the validity tests. The average factor loading for the first three sections is higher than the recommended .5, which is indicative of convergent validity, while the average variance extracted for the same section is lesser than the suggested level .5, but is very close. Thus, the convergent validity based on this instrument is weak. Again, another indication for obtaining convergent validity is the high reliability for the scale of the same section, which is higher than the suggested level of .6. Moreover, the fourth section, which is the intention towards ETI, did not undergo factor analyses due to the fact that it is just made up of four questions, which is not enough for a factor analyses (Pallant, 2011). However, this scale scored a high reliability value, which is .91, and reliability is a good predictor for convergent validity. Thus, a high score reliability means a high convergent validity. Basically, two instruments gave indications of meeting the conditions of convergent validity, while one did not. Therefore, the researcher can state that the convergent validity of the scale was obtained.

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In addition, the convergent and discriminant validity should be used together when concluding the validity of a scale as a whole. When the average variance extracted higher than the square of the correlation, the discriminant validity will be attained. The average variance extracted for the scale was around .45, while the square of the correlation of the scale is .11. Thus, the average variance extracted from the scale (first three sections) is higher than the square of the correlation. So, the discriminant validity for the scale was realized. Finally, after obtaining both convergent and discriminant validity of the scale, the researcher announced that the scale of this research is valid and reliable.

6.3 THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE DATA A normal distribution is the distribution of the data on the hubs. If the data is surrounding or clustering in a symmetrical manner around the mean line of the axis, it is regarded as being normally distributed (Hair et al., 2014). The problem of normality distribution can be eliminated by having large samples (Sekaran, 2003). Testing for the normality distribution of the data for this research was done through using skewness, kurtosis, trimmed mean, QQ plot, histogram, and scatterplot. The data of this research clusters to the right, means it is negatively skewed. The values of individual test for each variable indicate a normal distribution, because most of the variables fall within 2 and -2. A multivariate normality distribution was conducted, and a negative skew was obtained, all within 1 and -1, which is the robustness value. If the variable is normally distributed in a multivariate form, it is normal in a univariate form (Hair et al., 2014). For the data of this study, it is normally distributed in both forms. The data of this research indicated good kurtosis values, with few exceptions, but still within acceptable ranges. The trimmed mean indicated very well means that are

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closely located to the actual means, and the QQ plot showed to some extent a good clustering of the data around the mean line. Furthermore, the histogram and scatterplot for the data as a unit showed very well distribution, as highlighted in Section 6.6 below. Moreover, Sekaran (2003) and Hair et al. (2014), a large sample size will eliminate the effects of non-normal data: a recommended sample size is above 200 observations. The sample size of this research is 335 participants, which gave a big indication of the ability of the sample to self-eliminate any non-normal effects. Therefore, the data for this research is regarded as being normally distributed10.

6.4 CORRELATION ANALYSIS After running the Pearson correlation for the variables of the study, the results indicate a significant positive relationship among the independent, mediating, and dependent variables. Table 6.7 shows the results of the correlation analysis.

10

Kolmogorov was used and indicated a violation of the normality assumption before and after transforming the data, therefore, it was excluded (Pallant, 2011: page 64).

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Table 6.7 Person correlation

Gender Age

1^ 1 .156*

2

3

Correlations 4 5 6

7

8

9

10

11

1

*

Level of education Occupation Income

.042 .226*

1

*

.401* *

-.045 .114*

.155* * .261* .090 .267 * *

Marital status Place of residence

1

-.094

1

*

.382* *

-.023 .117*

.318* -.069 .196* *

1

*

.102

.001 -.054 .118

1

*

.173*

.05 1 3 .161* * Tax -.010 .119 -.087 -.017 .043 .046 .09 1 * 4 .03 .349* .556* Attitude .025 .078 .058 -.005 .031 .055 1 * * 4 .03 .509* .64 Intention .060 .047 .072 -.017 -.005 .120* 1 * .020 7 6** **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). Notes: Climate is the beliefs about the climate change consequences. Tax is the beliefs about the potential impacts of environmental tax. Attitude is the attitude towards environmental tax implementation. Intention is the intention towards environmental tax implementation. 1^= Gender, 2= Age, 3= Level of Education, 4= Occupation, 5= Income, 6= Marital Status, 7= Place of Residence, 8= Climate, 9= Tax, 10= Attitude, and 11= Intention Climate

-.039

.004

*

.064

.077 .015

The correlation coefficient between the beliefs about the consequences of climate change and the attitude towards the ETI is 34.9 percent. This implies that the relationship among the variables is positive, and its strength is medium (see Cohen, 1988: page 79). Moreover, the result shows that when the beliefs about the climate

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change consequences increase, the attitude towards ETI will increase as well. Also, the relationship did not show any harm of the multicollinearity assumption because it does not reach to 90 percent (Pallant, 2011). Therefore, a primary indication for supporting the first hypothesis is provided through correlation analysis. Moreover, the coefficient correlation between the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI and attitude towards ETI is 55.6 percent. This implies that the relationship among the variables is positive and its strength is large. In addition, the result shows that when the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI will increase the attitude towards ETI will increase as well. Also, the relationship did not show any harm of the multicollinearity assumption because it does not reach to 90 percent. Therefore, a primary indication for supporting the second hypothesis is documented through correlation analysis. Furthermore, the coefficient of the correlation between attitudes towards ETI and the intention towards ETI is 64.6 percent. This implies that the relationship among the variables is positive, and its strength is large. Also, the result indicates that when the attitude towards ETI will increase the intention towards ETI will increase as well. Further, the relationship did not show any harm of the multicollinearity assumption because it does not reach to 90 percent. Therefore, a primary indication for supporting the third hypothesis is provided through correlation analysis. Furthermore, the coefficient of the determination11 for previous variables discovered that beliefs about the consequences of climate change explained around 12.1 percent of the variance on the attitude towards ETI. Also, the beliefs about potential impacts of the ETI explained12 around 30.9 percent of the variance on the attitude

11

The coefficient of the determination is the square of the coefficient of the correlation. The self-developed scale explains variance on the attitude greater than the adopted scale. This is another evidence for the validity of this scale. 12

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towards ETI, while the attitude towards ETI explains around 41.7 percent of the variance on the intention towards its implementation. Finally, the results of correlation and the coefficient of the determination of the variables of this study are respectable and strong. More interestingly, the coefficient of the correlation between the beliefs about climate change consequences and intention towards ETI is 12 percent. This value is lesser than the coefficient of the correlation between the beliefs about the consequences of climate change and attitude towards ETI, which is 34.9 percent. Similarly, the coefficient of the correlation between the beliefs about the potential impacts of the ETI and intention towards ETI is 50.9 percent. Also, the value is lesser than the value of the coefficient of the correlation between the beliefs about potential impacts of ET and attitude towards ETI, which is 55.6 percent 13. Additionally, the highest coefficient of the correlation value was found to be between the attitude and intention towards the ETI by 64.6 percent. Finally, the control variables were found to not have any significant correlation with the intention or attitude towards ETI. More details about the relationships between control variables and intention towards ETI are documented in the following section.

6.5 T-TEST AND ANOVA ANALYSIS Detailed comparison was done using T-test and ANOVA to determine the exact effect of the control variables on the intention towards ETI. A t-test is a statistical test, performed to determine the mean and significance differences between the two groups (Hair et al., 2014). Those two groups should be categorical and continuous. The

Once again the self-developed scale proved its’ theoretical background by the consistency with the TPB. 13

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independent variable should be categorical and have two levels, while the dependent variable should be continuous (Pallant, 2011). Univariate analysis of variance, or ANOVA, especially ONE-WAY ANOVA, has been adopted in this research. ANOVA is a statistical test used to compare the mean scores of more than two groups in the independent variable (Hair et al., 2014). The results for T-test and ANOVA are described in the following subsections.

6.5.1 The Effects of Gender on the Intention towards ETI After conducting the T-test for Gender, the results are shown in table 6.8.

Table 6.8 The difference between gender towards intention of ETI Gender Male Female

Mean 3.5847 3.6901

Sig. 2-tailed .270 .264

The results indicate that females are more receptive towards the adoption of ET compared to males, with means of 3.69 and 3.58, respectively. This result is consistent with literature that documented greater environmental concern from females than males (Al-Rabaani and Al-Mekhlaf ,2009; Carlsson et al., 2012; de Leeuw et al., 2015). However, there are no significant differences between the two groups. This is consistent with literature, which argued that there are no differences between males and females towards environmental problems (Ivanova and Tranter, 2004; Ogunbode & Arnold, 2012; Owen & Videras, 2006; Veronesi et al., 2014).

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6.5.2 The Effects of Age on the Intention towards ETI The effects of age on the intention towards ETI were assessed using the ANOVA test, similar with the rest of control variables. Table 6.9 shows the result of the age category.

Table 6.9 The difference between age group towards intention of ETI Age

Mean

18-30 years 31-45 years 46-60 years More than 60

3.6190 3.5970 3.7016 3.9688

Levene statistics Sig. .534

Differences Sig. .669

The results indicate that the test did not violate the assumption of homogeneity of variances (which assumes the equality of the variance within each group) with a Levene’s test significant value of 53 percent, this value is greater than 5 percent of the level of acceptance. Moreover, the test indicates that there are no significant differences among the groups of age on their intention towards ETI, with a significant level of 66.9 percent. Ivanova & Tranter (2004), Owen and Videras (2006), Veronesi et al. (2014), Rasool & Ogunbode (2015), have articulated a non-significant relationship between age and adopting a PEB.

6.5.3 The Effects of the Level of Education on the Intention towards ETI The results of the level of education are tabulated in table 6.10.

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Table 6.10 The difference between level of education group towards intention of ETI Level of education

Mean

Lower secondary school Higher secondary school Diploma University

3.3750 3.2125 3.8900 3.6389

Levene statistics Sig. .470

Differences Sig. .068

The results of the level of education indicate that this test did not violate the assumption of homogeneity of variances, with a Levene’s test significant value 47 percent. Also, it indicates that there are no significant differences among the groups of the level of education on their intention towards ETI, with a significant level 6.8 percent. This result is consistent with literature, such as Kollmuss and Agyeman (2002), Ogunbode and Arnold (2012), Bohr (2014), Duan et al. (2014).

6.5.4 The Effects of the Occupation on the Intention towards ETI The results from occupation indicate that this test did not violate the assumption of homogeneity of variances with a Levene’s test significant value of 42.4 percent as highlighted in table 6.11.

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Table 6.11 The difference between occupation group towards intention of ETI Occupation

Mean

Full time employed Part time employed Self employed Unemployed Retired At home Student

3.6352 3.6786 3.6136 3.6250 4.0000 3.6413 3.5455

Levene statistics Sig. .424

Differences Sig. .926

Furthermore, the test indicates that there are no significant differences among occupation groups upon ETI, with a significant level of 92.6 percent. This result is consistent with Ogunbode and Arnold (2012), where they documented a neutral role of occupation in affecting environmental behavior.

6.5.5 The Effects of Income on the Intention towards ETI Table 6.12 below shows the results of the income group.

Table 6.12 The difference between income group towards intention of ETI Income

Mean

Less than NIS 3300 NIS 3300- NIS 6600 More than NIS 6600

3.6288 3.6438 3.6058

Levene statistics Sig. .165

Differences Sig. .965

The results of the income indicate that this test did not violate the assumption of homogeneity of variances, with a Levene’s test significant value of 16.5 percent. More, the test indicates there are no significant differences among the groups of income on their intentions towards ETI, with a significant level of 96.5 percent. Torgler and

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García-Valiñas, (2007); Ogunbode and Arnold, (2012); Zhou, (2014); Dienes, (2015) arrived at similar conclusion, which is the fact that the economic situation has no impact on PEB.

6.5.6 The Effects of Marital Status on the Intention towards ETI The results of marital status indicate that this test did not violate the assumption of homogeneity of variances, with a Levene’s test significant value of 37.2 percent as addressed in table 6.13.

Table 6.13 The difference between marital status group towards intention of ETI Marital status

Mean

Single Married Divorced/ Widowed

3.6516 3.6197 3.5000

Levene statistics Sig. .372

Differences Sig. .928

In addition, the test indicates that there are no significant differences among the groups in terms of marital status on their intention towards ETI, with a significant level of 92.8 percent. The result is consistent with Torgler and García-Valiñas (2007).

6.5.7 The Effects of Place of residence on the Intention towards ETI Table 6.14 below highlights the results of the place residence group towards the intention for ETI.

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Table 6.14 The difference between place of residence group towards intention of ETI Place of residence

Mean

City/ Urban Village/ Rural Camps

3.5955 3.7448 3.0500

Levene statistics Sig. .717

Differences Sig. .116

The results of the place of residence indicate that this test did not violate the assumption of homogeneity of variances, with a Levene’s test significant value of 71.7 percent. Moreover, the test indicates that there are no significant differences among the groups of the place of residence on their intention towards ETI, with a significant level of 11.6 percent. This result supported by Bohr (2014) and Veronesi et al. (2014). In summary, the results of T-test and ANOVA analysis revealed that Palestinian intention towards ETI is not significantly contingent with any of the social, economic or demographic factors that have been elicited in this research. In addition, these results are in line with the results obtained from correlation analysis.

6.6 REGRESSION ANALYSIS The regression analysis technique is used to test the hypotheses of the study and as a robustness test to confirm the results obtained from other statistical tests as well as to check the internal consistency of the model. The requirements for regression analysis were met as follows: 1- The multicollinearity assumption was achieved. The values of tolerance for all variables greater than 0.10 is indicates a situation free from multicollinearity. Moreover, the values of the variance inflation factors (VIF) is indicative of a situation free from multicollinearity, due to the fact that no variables reached

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10. Furthermore, the results of the correlation matrix in Table 6.7 did not show any correlations above 0.90. Therefore, the assumption of multicollinearity was not violated. 2- The normal distribution of the data was approved and shown in the following two figures (6.1 and 6.2); the histogram shows the normality distribution of the data, while the scatterplot shows the outliers. From the former, a clear and normal distribution is evident, while in the latter, most values fall within ±3.3.

Figure 6.1 the histogram of the data distribution from regression results

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Figure 6.2 the Scatterplot of the outliers from regression results

The regression analysis for this research is described in two sections. Testing the hypotheses and control variables and exploring the explanatory power of the model were performed in the first section, while the second section examines the mediation relationship in the model.

6.6.1 Testing the Hypotheses and the Control Variables In order to test the hypotheses and control variables of the research, three steps were undertaken. The first checked the first two hypotheses, which are the relationships between both the beliefs about climate change consequences and beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI from one side and the attitude towards ETI from the other (between the independent variables and the mediating variable). Table 6.15 shows the results of the first stage.

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Table 6.15 The relationship between the independent variables and the mediating variable Attitude= B0 + B1 X1 + B2 X2 + E

Variables

t-value

Sig.

Multicollinearity Tolerance VIF

Coefficients/ Beta (Constant) 1.259 6.743 .000 Climate .246 6.080 .000** .974 1.027 Tax .391 11.715 .000** .974 1.027 Dependent Variable: Attitude ** Significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) R2 = 37.9% Adjusted R2 = 37.5% F-value = 101.206 P-value = 0.000 N = 335 Notes: Climate is the beliefs about the climate change consequences. Tax is the beliefs about the potential impacts of environmental tax. Attitude is the attitude towards environmental tax implementation, which is the dependent variable in this model and the mediating variable in the initial model.

The results indicated a significant positive relationship between the beliefs about the consequences of climate change and attitude towards ETI. The coefficient between them is 24.6 percent. This means that when the beliefs about climate change increase by a unit, the attitude towards ETI will increase by 0.246 units, confirming, for the second time, the first hypothesis. Moreover, another significant relationship is documented between the belief about the potential impacts of and attitude towards ETI. This is supported for the second hypothesis of this study. The result shows that when the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI increases by a unit, correspondingly, the attitude towards ETI will increase by around 0.391 unit.

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The second step of the regression analysis contains the second part of the initial model, which is the relationship between the mediating, dependent, and control variables. Table 6.16 shows the results of this part.

Table 6.16 The relationship between the mediating, dependent, and control variables Intention= B0 + B3 X3 + B4 X4 + B5 X5 + B6 X6 + B7 X7 + B8 X8 + B9 X9 + B10 X10 + E Multicollinearity t-value Sig. Tolerance VIF Coefficients/ Beta (Constant) -1.472 -2.824 .005 Attitude 1.323 15.208 .000** .984 1.016 Gender .106 1.276 .203 .781 1.281 Age .039 .731 .465 .794 1.259 Level of education .049 .733 .464 .911 1.098 Occupation -.019 -1.012 .312 .794 1.259 Income -.010 -.180 .858 .812 1.231 Marital status -.116 -1.368 .172 .764 1.309 Place of residence .020 .265 .791 .952 1.050 Dependent Variable: Intention ** Significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) R2 = 42.6% Adjusted R2 = 41.2% F-value = 30.217 P-value = 0.000 N = 335 Notes: Attitude is the attitude towards environmental tax implementation, which is the independent variable in this model and the mediating variable in the initial model. Intention is the intention towards environmental tax implementation, which is the dependent variable. Variables

The results indicated a significant positive relationship between the attitude towards ETI and the intention towards ETI. This result supported the third hypothesis of the study. When the attitude increases by a unit, the intention will increase by 1.323 units. The highest explanatory power for the predictors in both models is attitude. This

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is consistent with the correlation results, which indicated that the correlation between attitude and intention is 64.6 percent, being the highest correlation. Moreover, the results of the second model are in line with the results of the correlation analysis, T-test, and ANOVA in terms of the control variables. The test did not indicate any significant relationship between any control variable and intention towards ETI. Again, it should be pointed out that the social, economic, and demographic factors analyzed in this research do not affect the Palestinian intention towards ETI. The third step of the regression analysis was performed in order to know the explanatory power of the model as a whole. Table 6.17 shows the results of the model as one unit.

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Table 6.17 The results of the multiple regression analysis Intention= B0 + B1 X1 + B2 X2 + B3 X3 + B4 X4 + B5 X5 + B6 X6 + B7 X7 + B8 X8 + B9 X9 + B10 X10 + E

Variables

Coefficients/ Beta -1.637 -.229 .361 1.140

t-value

Sig.

Multicollinearity Tolerance VIF

(Constant) -3.029 .003 Climate -2.740 .006** .837 1.195 Tax 4.651 .000** .661 1.512 Attitude 10.736 .000** .609 1.643 Control variables Gender .095 1.194 .233 .775 1.290 Age .025 .479 .632 .791 1.264 Level of .113 1.721 .086 .876 1.141 education Occupation -.012 -.688 .492 .783 1.277 Income -.008 -.149 .881 .808 1.237 Marital status -.100 -1.226 .221 .763 1.311 Place of .067 .922 .357 .937 1.068 residence ** Significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) R2 = 47.4% Adjusted R2 = 45.8% F-value = 29.187 P-value = 0.000 N = 335 Notes: Climate is the beliefs about the climate change consequences. Tax is the beliefs about the potential impacts of environmental tax. Attitude is the attitude towards environmental tax implementation. Intention is the intention towards environmental tax implementation, which is the dependent variable.

The results of the third stage showed that the value of R2 is .474, indicating that 47.4 percent of the variance of the dependent variable can be explained by the model. Sometimes, in a small sample, it is better to report the value of adjusted R 2, because it could overestimate the explanatory power of the model. In light of this study, the adjusted R2 value is 45.8 percent. This implies that the model explains 45.8 percent of the variance of the dependent variable. Both R2 and adjusted R2 provide great explanatory power to the model. The explanatory power for this research is higher than

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the explanatory power for studies in the PEB field. Maibach et al. (2011) reported adjusted R2 of 41 percent, while Ramos et al. (2015) reported R2 of 9.9 percent. The model rejected the null hypothesis that assumes the predictive power of the model is equal to zero, with an F-value of 29.187 and a significant level of p=0.000.

6.6.2 Testing the Mediation Relationship in the Model In order to check the internal consistency of the model, which is the flow of the relationship between the independent, mediating, and dependent variables, the method of Baron and Kenny (1986) was utilized. They suggested running three-steps multiple regressions in order to test the effects of mediation. At the first step, regression analysis between independent and mediating variables needs to be carried out. Table 6.15 shows the results of the direct relationships between the independent and mediating variables. For the second step, a regression analysis should be conducted between the mediating and dependent variables. Table 6.16 highlights the second step. Step three involves two regression analyses to test the direct relationship between the independent and dependent variables on the first one. In the second regression, the mediating variable must be introduced to the equation to check the change in the coefficient and the significant of the independent variables. In order to conduct this test, a hierarchical multiple regressions needs to be used instead of running two standard regression. Table 6.18 shows the results of the hierarchical multiple regressions.

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Table 6.18 The results of the hierarchical multiple regression Multicollinearity Coefficients/ t-value Sig. Tolerance VIF Beta (Constant) .485 1.159 .247 Climate .073 .805 .421 .974 1.027 1 Tax .787 10.519 .000** .974 1.027 (Constant) -.985 -2.579 .010 Climate -.214 -2.618 .009** .876 1.141 2 Tax .331 4.348 .000** .689 1.451 Attitude 1.168 11.094 .000** .621 1.610 Dependent Variable: Intention Notes: Climate is the beliefs about the climate change consequences. Tax is the beliefs about the potential impacts of environmental tax. Attitude is the attitude towards environmental tax implementation. Intention is the intention towards environmental tax implementation, which is the dependent variable. Model

Variables

The results of the first model in the hierarchical multiple regression reflect a direct relationship between the beliefs about the climate change consequences and the intention towards ETI, as well as the relationship between the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI on the intention towards ETI. For the first relationship, a clear nonsignificant relationship can be noted with significant value of 42 percent. Therefore, a lack of direct relationship between the beliefs about the climate change consequences and intention towards ETI could be an indication of a lack of mediating relationship (Newsom, 2015). Moreover, the second relationship between the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI and intention towards ETI revealed an opposite situation compared with the previous relationship, but it is consistent with the theory’s assumption. A significant relationship, with a 78.7 percent coefficient, indicates a high direct relationship, which implies a possible mediation relationship. In order to be certain if the attitude is

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mediated the relationship between the independent and dependent variables, the second model needs to be highlighted. By looking into the results of the second model, a clear mediation relationship can be seen between the beliefs about climate change consequences and attitude towards ETI. The coefficient is strongly reduced, and the relationship between the independent and dependent variables become quite significant. Theoretically, a significant reduction in the coefficient value gives a strong indication that there is a mediating relationship (Baron & Kenny, 1986).

This implies that introducing the mediating variable

significantly affect the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Therefore, a clear mediating relationship can be surmised between the beliefs about the climate change consequences and the intention towards ETI through the attitude towards ETI. After introducing the mediating variable, the relationship between the beliefs about the potential impacts of the ETI still has a significant relationship with the intention towards ETI. Admittedly, the coefficient between the independent variable and the dependent variable sharply decreased from .787 to .331 (around 58 percent) as a result of introducing the mediating variable. This implies that there is a mediating relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Thus, proven a mediation relationship between the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI and the intention towards ETI via attitude towards ETI confirms the consistency of both the conceptual framework and the theory’s assumption. The Sobel test was performed to emphasize the last results. The test is used to calculate the indirect effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable via the mediating variable (Baron & Kenny, 1986). Figure 6.3 highlights, in general, the relationship between the independent, mediating, and dependent variables. The total of

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A and B tracks is the indirect effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable.

Mediator variable

A

B

Dependent variable

Independent variable C

Figure 6.3 The relationship between the independent, mediating, and dependent variable generally

The result for the first independent variable that represents the relationship between the beliefs about the consequences of climate change, the attitude towards ETI, and the intention towards ETI revealed a mediating relationship with a Sobel value of 5.7014 and significant value of p-value =.00014 (Newsom, 2015). This implies that the Sobel value is significantly different from zero, meaning that the existence of a mediating relationship (Baron & Kenny, 1986). Moreover, the Sobel test for the relationship between the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI, attitude towards ETI, and intention towards ETI revealed a mediation relationship with a Sobel value of 9.3464 and a significant p-value =.000, which is significantly different from zero as well. Furthermore, the total effect of the independent variables on the dependent variable was calculated using the Baron and Kenny (1986) method. The calculation was 14

Calculating the Sobel value was done through an online calculator from: http://www.danielsoper.com/statcalc3/calc.aspx?id=31

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done manually using the equation “Total effects= AB+C (See Figure 6.3)”. The result indicated a total effect of the climate change consequences on the intention towards ETI at 0.398. This implies that when the beliefs about the climate change consequences increase by one unit, the intention towards ETI will increase by .398 units as a result of the direct effect on the intention towards ETI and the indirect effects via the attitude towards ETI. Also, the total effect of the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI on the intention towards ETI is 1.304. The intention towards ETI will increase by 1.304 units as a result of the direct and indirect effects via attitude towards ETI when the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI increase by a unit.

6.7 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 6.7.1 Discussion on the Independent, Mediating, and Dependent Variables This study aimed to investigate factors that affect Palestinians’ intention towards ETI by examining their intention to adopt such a tax. In order to realize the main objectives, three vehicles were utilized. First, investigating the influence of Palestinians beliefs about the consequences of climate change upon their attitudes towards ETI, and second, investigate the influence of Palestinians beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI upon their attitude towards ETI. Due to the utilization of TPB as the theoretical background in this research, which assumes that beliefs will affect intentions via attitude, this study constructed a third vehicle, which is to examine the influence of Palestinians attitude towards ETI upon their intention towards ETI. In the following sections, an extensive discussion highlights the nature of the results. Palestinians were found to be aware of climate change issues, such as the emergence, effects, and consequences of climate change. The level of awareness about the dilemma of climate change among Palestinians is excellent compared to other

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countries, whether developing countries like China (Duan et al., 2014), or developed countries such as Australia (Hanson, 2011). Awareness about climate change problem among Palestinians could be attributed to several factors. First, the Palestinians are regarded as an educated. According to a recent report issued by PCBS on September 8, 2015, Palestine had one of the lowest illiteracy rate at both Arabic and international levels (PCBS, 2015). According to the aforementioned report, the illiteracy rate in Palestine is 3.6 percent, compared with 22.5 percent and 15.7 percent at both Arabic and international levels, respectively. Thus, Palestinians are expected to possess excellent knowledge about the consequences of climate change, based on the assumption that are assumed to have higher levels of education will increase the knowledge a person hold about environmental problems, its causes, as well as its potential effects. Second, Palestine are directly suffering from climate changes (EQA, 2012b, 2013). The most prominent problem is extreme temperatures (very hot summer and very cold winter), floods in winter, causing severe losses and greater economic damage to homes, farms, and factories. Increased spending on health increased from less than US$400 million in 2000 to greater than US$1.3 billion in 2013 (PCBS, 2014), which could be a strong indicator of diseases caused by pollution. According to the Ministry of Health (2013), cancer is the second highest cause of death in Palestine, where the rate of death increased from 10.8 percent in 2010 to 12.4 percent in 2011, costing over US$ 30 million. The main type of cancer is the lung cancer, representing 18.2 percent of the overall cancer rate. Therefore, Palestinians are directly suffering from climate change consequences, making them more aware of its effects. Third, increase media campaigns on the effects of climate change and boost international awareness about issues pertaining to climate changes, which culminated

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in the Paris climate change conference (United Nation, 2015). Previous activities were mostly announced and dealt with via social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. In light of this, the diffusion of technology and the usage of social media are very high in Palestine. According to a recent report, 64.6 percent of Palestinians subscribes to the Internet and use Facebook (Internetworldstats, 2015), which provide them with a great opportunity to increase their knowledge about international issues such as climate change, among others. Therefore, possessing good knowledge about the emergence, effects, and consequences of climate change in light of the aforementioned points is understandable and expected. Clear understanding of the climate change issues is reflected in Palestinians’ attitude towards ETI, which is mostly positive. Table 6.16 tabulates the correlation analysis, while Table 6.17 shows the regression analysis, indicating a positive and significant relationship between Palestinians’ awareness about the consequences of climate change and their attitude towards ETI, which supports the first hypothesis. Coefficients of 34.9 percent and 24.6 percent were obtained between beliefs about the consequences of climate change and attitude towards ETI from correlation analysis and regression analysis, respectively. The positive relationship between holding an appropriate level of awareness about climate change and WTP for nature protection is documented in literature. Via a cross-national study, Dienes (2015) found that people that are concerned about the environment would be the most willing to act, as well as pay for the mitigation of climate change. Similarly, in China, Duan et al. (2014) found that citizens who are aware of the dilemma of climate change are WTP to reduce its effects. Moreover, Zhou (2014), through a cross-national study, emphasized the relationship between the awareness about the consequences of climate change and the

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acceptance of any pro-environmental policy. He stated that in case of skepticism, the adoption of environmental policy or supporting any PEB would be very difficult, or impossible in some cases, due to the actions’ receivers not believing the emergence of climate change problems. Therefore, environmental skepticism is one of the major obstacles that impede the adoption of anti-pollution policies. Finally, Palestinians face the direct consequences of climate change directly, at 84.7 percent. Thus, feeling the risk or being in proximity of the risks of climate change will increase tendencies towards paying to protect nature. Veronesi et al. (2014) analyzed risk perception as a result of the consequences of climate change among the Swiss, and found it positively linked to their beliefs about the importance of mitigating climate change risk. Another awareness found among Palestinians is their belief about the potential impacts of the ETI. Generally, Palestinians have a positive belief about the potential impacts of ETI. They believe that such a tax will lead to decreased air pollution, wastes, consumption of resources, and increased quality of their life. All the reasons that were used to justify the knowledge about the consequences of climate change are applicable for this scale as well. Obtaining good levels of education and having access to global social networks will increase the opportunity to acquire at least a minimum knowledge on global issues. Climate change is one of the most prominent global problems present in social media. In parallel with the discussion about the consequences of climate change, the mitigation or prevention tools are documented as well. Therefore, obtaining at least a minimum knowledge about ET among Palestinians is plausible. The internal consistency of scale with a Cronbach’s alpha of 87.2 percent and a mean of 3.62 indicate a positive trend with a consistent knowledge about ET. The positive beliefs about the potential impacts of the ETI among Palestinians are embodied in their attitude towards ETI. Coefficients of 55.6 percent and 39.1

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percent between the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI and the attitude towards ETI were obtained from correlation analysis and regression analysis, respectively. These numbers significantly and positively supported the second hypothesis. A possible explanation of the positive attitude towards ETI could be attributed to several reasons. First, as was highlighted earlier and consistent with the theory’s assumption regarding holding positive beliefs about the potential impacts from performing the behavior will participate in shaping a positive attitude towards its execution. Second, Palestinians are suffering from the effects of climate change; thus, supporting any policy could benefit them as well. Previous literature supported the perception of cost-benefit analysis towards accepting any pro-environmental policy. Casal (2012) stated that people must understand why their government taxes some goods over others. This will lead them to think about the lethal impact of taxed goods and be positive about government actions. Also, beliefs about the overall benefits from an emission reduction policy will motivate people towards acceptance (Kim et al., 2013). Furthermore, although living expenditure in certain cases will increase, it will be much less than the anticipated catastrophes of climate change (Duan et al., 2014). Finally, Steg and Vlek (2009) argued that a human makes reasoned action and chooses the highest benefit alternative, supporting the ETI in light of the current and expected effects of the climate change in Palestine is justified. Unlike other scales, the researcher, as mentioned in Chapter 5, personally developed the scale of the beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI. The scale intended to check the validity of using beliefs about potential impacts of ETI as a predictor for the citizens’ attitude towards ETI. This scale has been successfully used in this research, proving its ability in predicting people’s attitude towards ETI. Also, the result is consistent with the theoretical background of the scale, which is TPB. TPB assumes

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that the acceptance of performing a certain behavior depends on the likelihood of the expected benefits or losses for that particular behavior. Hence, Palestinians have positive expectations of potential impacts of ETI; this positive belief is reflected in attitudes towards ETI. Thus, the developed scale is valid from the perspective of both theoretical and practical approaches. After highlighting the positive beliefs and awareness about the consequences of climate change and the potential impacts of ETI, a positive attitude towards ETI was found. The positive attitude is predicted to exist after its prerequisite is achieved, which is the positive beliefs that are consistent with the TPB’s assumption. Palestinians have an optimistic attitude towards ETI in order to save nature. The positive attitude reflects in a positive intention towards ETI. TPB assumes that positive attitude will participate in developing positive intention towards ETI. Coefficients of 64.6 percent and 1.323 of the relationship between the attitude towards ETI and the intention towards ETI were obtained from correlation analysis and regression analysis, respectively. Therefore, the third hypothesis is significantly and positively supported. In light of this fact, a strong emphasis should be placed on the importance of developing a pro-environmental attitude when adopting any pro-environmental policy. The importance of developing an attitude towards the intention of performing any behavior was documented from literature. Al-Rabaani and Al-Mekhlaf (2009) argued that attitude is very important in guiding PEB towards countering and tackling environmental problems facing the earth. Additionally, Schultz et al. (2004) depicted environmental attitude as a group of beliefs influencing personal intentions towards proenvironmental actions. Moreover, a pro-environmental attitude has a significant and consistent effect on PEB from the perspective of Lebmann and Masson (2015).

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Therefore, the importance of public attitude should be taken into consideration by the decision makers when they want to introduce a taxation policy (Kim et al., 2013). The attention on studying the construction of the human attitude and its corresponding factors is clearly found to be necessary based on the results obtained in this study. The emphasis on developing pro-environmental attitude as a prerequisite to behave in a pro-environmental manner are attested to in several previous studies (AlRabaani & Al-Mekhlaf, 2009; Lebmann & Masson, 2015; Schultz et al., 2004). Having higher pro-environmental attitude is regarded as a measure to the extent people considers themselves as a part of the natural environment and how much they favor it. This will increase the WTP because they believe that they are paying in order to save themselves. Furthermore, the nature of pro-environment policies is long-term, thus, having a strong attitude towards its adoption will increase the possibility of success. This is important in ETI because this policy could lead to increased cost of life at the beginning without a direct achievement. Therefore, having a constant attitude will maintain and support the implementation process until the full goal of the policy is attained. The positive relationship between the attitude and intention towards ETI is embodied in a positive intention towards ETI. Palestinians are intended to adopt ET, whether as a new tax at 74.3 percent, or as an incremental to current taxes at 69.5 percent. The results of the intention are logically interpreted, because all the components in the series were positively achieved. The positive beliefs were found, and it develops a positive attitude, which turned into a positive intention towards ETI among Palestinians. Moreover, the problems that residents are experiencing due to the effects of climate change could significantly affect their intention towards paying to maintain a good environment.

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Moreover, the expected outcomes from ETI strongly affected their intention to pay as well. The intention to pay ET could be affected by the level of trust the residents placed on the government. The supporting and accepting of governmental decisions reflect the citizens’ trust levels vis-à-vis the government (Kim et al., 2013). The scores of willingness to accept and support governmental environmental efforts are very close to the results of the intention towards ETI. Therefore, a clear link can be expected between trusting the government and acceptance of any pro-environmental policy. The positive intention towards ETI among Palestinians is contingent on revenue usage. Palestinians are intended to adopt ET if they are sure that the revenue will be used to tackle environmental degradation. This could explain the discrepancy of the results between adopting ET as a new tax or as an incremental to the current taxes. People may believe that adopting ET, as a new tax will make its revenue, accounts, and its attributes more clear, which make it more transparent and provide them with the opportunity to observe any misuse. In the case of adopting ET as an incremental to current taxes, its revenue will be mixed with the revenue from other taxes. This makes the observation process very difficult, and it will not be easy to note any misuse from the government.

6.7.2 Discussion on the Control Variables Literature pointed out that certain social, economic, and demographic factors affect the residents’ PEB. Seven characteristics (gender, age, level of education, occupation, income, marital status, and the place of residence) were used as control variables in this study to determine the effects of the social, economic, and demographic factors on Palestinian intention towards ETI. After conducting several statistical tests (correlation

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analysis, T-test, Anova, and regression analysis), all of the control variables were found to not have any effects on Palestinian intention towards ETI. The results of the T-test showed no significant differences among gender. Most literature articulated higher female WTP compared to male (Al-Rabaani and AlMekhlaf, 2009; Carlsson et al., 2012). The greater female environmental concern could be attributed to females’ sense of emotional empathy and a stronger response to the harmful effects of degradation environmental conditions (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015). In Palestine, although there are no significant differences among females and males, both are concerned about the environment. Meanwhile, males have a high rate of environmental concern, with very close rates to females. The high environmental concern that holds by males could be due to the equal facing of environmental degradation by females. Also, it is the nature of the community that deals with both genders equally in most common issues. In the context of socialization, encompassing upbringing on the equality of give-and-take, render the differences among genders insignificant. For example, obligations of women is also incumbent upon men, with both having equal share of the reward. Therefore, their responses to several issues could be closed, which includes the WTP. The lack of significant differences is obvious among the age group categories. Age has the most controversial effects among all the socio-demographic factors due to the absence of a clear status. Some studies argued that the elderly are more environmentally concerned compared to their younger counterpart (Ivanova and Tranter, 2008; Pinto, Nique, Añaña, and Herter, 2011), due to the decrease in their selfadvancement (Ogunbode & Arnold, 2012) and concerns about social status (Pisano et al., 2014). Others documented higher younger WTP compared to the elderly due to the post-materialism value among new generations (Ivanova & Tranter, 2004) and the

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intervention of different contextual factors, such as cultural values and place of residence (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015). In this research, both younger and elder citizens are WTP for nature protection at almost similar levels. The reason behind the lack of differences is that both are facing climate change at similar levels of seriousness. Also, a paucity of individualistic behavior among community members render them concerned about each other and the quality of their life as a whole. Thus, all the community layers are willing to adopt ET in order to save nature and maintain a good environment for future generations. The level of education among Palestinians is found to not have any significant effects on WTP for nature protection. Generally, the level of education is found to positively affect the WTP among nations. Being more educated seems to increase awareness regarding the consequences of climate change. When someone is exposed to the facts of how the current environmental catastrophes occur, it will influence their way of looking at such a problem. Moreover, education could open new horizons for citizens in tackling environmental degradation, which might result in accepting governmental environmental policies, incurring additional costs. Literature overwhelmingly articulated the positive impact of education on WTP specifically, and PEB in general (Diederich and Goeschl, 2013). Other studies stated that increasing the level of education could affect the level of knowledge about environmental issues obtained by residents, but could not affect their respective WTP (Duan et al., 2014). In this research, the university certificates holders’ represent 86 percent of the sample, which could limit the conclusion that can be garnered about the effects of the level of education. Compared to previous research conducted by the researcher through a manually distributed questionnaire, university certificates holders’ represent 77 percent of the sample. This implies that despite the high representation of

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university certificates holders’ in this research, the values are not that far from previously reported work done in the West Bank. Moreover, the percentage of the respondents who hold secondary education and above is 70 percent in the study of Ogunbode and Arnold (2012), while 60 percent of the respondents from the sample of Duan et al. (2014) hold a college degree or more advance certificates, both of which reported similar results to this study. In addition, there is a lack of figures on the disaggregation of the certificates holders’ among Palestinians, which leads to the inability to compare the results obtained about the classification of certificates holders’ in the sample with actual situations. However, according to PCBS (2015), Palestine score one of the lowest illiteracy rates in both Arabic and non-Arabic countries. Therefore, a sensitive conclusion could be reached via the results, which is the fact that higher education does not influence WTP among Palestinians. Also, regardless of the level of education, citizens intend to adopt ET in order to save nature. The exposure of environmental problems and upbringing concerning the land as a sacred land could increase beliefs about saving all of its attributes, which result in high concern and WTP among different categories vis-à-vis the level of education. The type of occupation did not affect the intention of Palestinians about ETI. The effects of occupation reported by previous literature vary. Distinctions are reported in previous literature between white-collar workers and other groups of society (Ogunbode & Arnold, 2012). White-collar workers are more stable than other members of the community, which will increase their WTP. In this research, the results indicate a high WTP among all occupation group categories, even for the unemployed residents. Thus, the neutrality of occupation is evident among Palestinians vis-à-vis ETI, which could be attributed to the generalizability of environmental problems, as well as the

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beliefs that the effects of pollution will spread on the society as a whole. 90.8 percent of Palestinians agreed on the prominent role of climate change in spreading diseases. Thus, as a risk and moral responsibility, people who are employed in various fields express positive WTP in order to protect nature by adopting ET. The situation embodied in previous factors is present after controlled for income of the residents. There are no significant differences among income categories towards ETI. This situation is also reported in previous literature, some arguing that wealthier nations are more inclined towards paying to mitigate environmental degradation because they have post-materialism values (Inglehart, 1995). This might be due to increased wealth, which leads to higher demands for a clean milieu, making it easier to redistribute resources in an environmentally friendly manner (Franzen, 2003). Other studies reported that poor nations are more WTP compared to their wealthier counterparts. This lead to the globalization of the environmental problems and direct dealing with these problems (Dienes, 2015). A consistent situation is documented in Palestine in terms of the generalizability of the environmental problems, which increase the perception of risk among different categories of the society. Thus, all the earners in the community are expected to adopt ET. Spouses and children could increase WTP, as they will prompt us to spend money on environmental protection to maintain a good environment, which will guarantee their upbringing and wellbeing. Marital status appeared to increase the WTP in certain studies (Laroche et al., 2001), while others reported otherwise (Torgler & García-Valiñas, 2007). In Palestine, marital status has not any significant impact on WTP, with a tendency towards ETI among all the categories in this group. A possible explanation is the nature of the Palestinian community; although someone is unmarried, they are still a part of an extended family, all of which are within their respective spheres

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of concern. Thus, the positive intention indicates a positive thinking towards other members of the community. Place of residence is another factor determined to affect the people’s WTP. Most literature compares rural and urban dwellers, reporting high WTP for the latter. Certain authors argued that urban concern about the environment is overestimated, because they lack contact with nature, due to their upbringing. Also, some conceptual bias, asking for infrastructure available in urban locations more than its rural counterpart (HuddartKennedy et al., 2009). On the other hand, rural dwellers were found to showcase higher environmental concern compared to urban locations in other studies. This could be attributed to the decrease of economic dependency on natural resource for rural dwellers, most of who begin to see it as an enjoyable place and begin to maximize their income to improve their quality of life. Moreover, researchers pointed out that migrants from urban to rural areas increased the awareness of farmers in maintaining a good environment (Hinds and Sparks, 2008; Milfont et al., 2014). In the context of this study, three dwellers categories were used; urban, rural, and camps dwellers. There are no significant differences between the dwellers in the aforementioned groups vis-à-vis their intention towards ETI, all of which are intended for the adoption of ET. The reason behind this support is the lack of space in the West Bank due to the occupation authorities seizing lands. Also, environmental problems experienced in big cities occurred in the rural places due to smaller distances. Moreover, the equality distribution of the educational institutions among all places within West Bank increased the environmental awareness held by dwellers. Therefore, having a high intention towards paying ET is plausible.

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Finally, the researcher reported that dealing with environmental problems and possessing a good knowledge of the consequences of climate change would lead to increase WTP for nature protection and the neutralization of the effects of other contextual factors. Hence, emphasis should be placed on the role of increasing people’s awareness about environmental issues in order to guarantee their support. Furthermore, the nature of climate change is unlike conventional catastrophes, where it can be noticed early on. Therefore, the government should begin highlighting losses caused by climate change so that the imposition towards adopting several types of PEB, especially the policies that could incur a cost, can be undertaken.

6.8 SUMMARY This chapter discussed the collected data and its subsequent analyses. Three types of analysis were adopted in this study, namely, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. Four research questions were addressed in this research, as follows: Do the Palestinians’ beliefs about the climate change consequences influence their attitude towards ETI? Do the Palestinians’ beliefs about the potential impacts of environmental tax influence their attitude towards ETI? Do the Palestinians’ attitude towards ETI influence their intention towards ETI? Do Palestinians intend to implement environmental taxes? The answers to all of these questions were channeled through an empirical investigation using a questionnaire with the theoretical background obtained from the TPB. Table 6.19 summarizes the answers of the research’s questions and the main results of this study. Finally, the next chapter concludes the research, proposed future research, and highlighted the limitation associated with the work.

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Table 6.19 summary of the results of the study No

Variables

1

The Palestinians’ beliefs about the climate change consequences.

2

The Palestinians’ beliefs about the potential impacts of the environmental tax.

3

The Palestinians’ attitude towards environmental tax implementation.

4

The Palestinians intention towards environmental tax implementation. Gender Age Level of education Occupation Income Marital status Place of residence

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Research’s questions Do the Palestinians’ beliefs about the climate change consequences influence their attitude towards ETI?

Hypotheses

Results

H1: There is a Significantly positive supported relationship between the Palestinians’ beliefs about the climate change consequences and their attitude towards the ETI. Do the Palestinians’ H2: There is a Significantly beliefs about the positive supported potential impacts of relationship environmental tax between the influence their Palestinians’ attitude towards ETI? beliefs about the potential impacts of the ET and their attitude towards ETI. Do the Palestinians’ H3: There is a Significantly attitude towards ETI positive supported influence their relationship intention towards between the ETI? Palestinians’ attitudes towards ETI and their intention towards ETI. Do Palestinians Yes intend to implement environmental taxes?

No significant relationships with the intention

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CHAPTER SEVEN CONCLUSION

7.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter concludes the study on the factors affecting Palestinian intentions towards ETI. The first section will summarize the study and findings. This will be followed by the implied implications and the expected contribution of the research in both the real and scientific worlds. The third section discusses the limitation of the study, while section four will suggest some future possible avenues of research pertaining to this topic. The final section will summarize content specific to this chapter.

7.1 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY The levels of pollution are increasing all over the globe, and its effects are fast becoming more and more severe. It is directly threatening to humans, being detrimental to their wellbeing. Some actual and expected effects for pollution have been addressed through several research papers. Approximately 47 billion ton of emissions were generated from the various sources of pollution (Andrew et al., 2010), 300,000 people were killed annually, 325 million people severely affected, 4 billion inhabitants are left vulnerable, half billion people are at extreme risk, and the losses of social welfare are valued at $125 billion per year globally (Global Humanitarian Forum, 2009). 70 billion tons of emissions are predicted to be released to the atmosphere by 2030 (Andrew et al., 2010), while the temperature of the earth is expected to increase by 2-4 degrees by the next century (Al-Amin et al., 2010). Pollution in Palestine is similar to the ones experienced by other countries. This is embodied in several statistics that were garnered from many organizations and

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parties. The emissions from multiple pollution sources sharply increased from 2006 to 2011, which could be attributed to increased consumption of electricity, from 4,158,848 MWH in 2010, to 4,621,686 MWH in 2011, from diesel and gasoline 475,947 L to 539,112 L, respectively, and from 172,190 L to 181,334 L, successively. This is also reflected in the increased number of automobiles, from 194,702 car in 2010, to 275,677 car in 2013 (around 30 percent increase in the last three years). The potential effects of pollution in Palestine could be seen in the increased spending on both the environment and healthcare. Spending on the environment increased from US$62.5 million in 2011, to US$66.8 million in 2012, while the spending on health increased from less than US$400 million in 2000, to greater than US$1.3 billion in 2013 (PCBS, 2014). In light of the aforementioned facts, the researcher was motivated to elicit Palestinian intentions towards ETI as a potential tool of mitigating pollution. In order to achieve that goal, the research utilized several vehicles, namely the citizens’ beliefs about climate change consequences, Palestinian beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI, and their respective attitudes towards ETI. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) forms the theoretical background of the study. This research was carried out in the West Bank in Palestine using an online survey that was developed using Google and distributed through Facebook. 384 questionnaires were distributed, however, only 335 questionnaire were used in for analysis. The study found that Palestinians are aware of the consequences of climate changes, and they believe that the effects of the climate change will negatively affect their daily life, which will also affect animals and plants. The positive beliefs about the potential impacts of ETI are present among Palestinians. They believe that ETI will help decrease pollution and correspondingly increase their quality of life. Palestinian attitudes towards ETI are aligned with their beliefs about the consequences of climate

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change and the potential impact(s) of ETI. Thus, Palestinians in general have a more positive attitude towards ETI. TPB assumes that performing certain behaviors depend on the likelihood of the expected benefits or losses. So, positive beliefs towards both the consequences of climate change and the potential impacts of ETI are consistent with their attitudes towards ETI. Therefore, around 74.3 percent of the Palestinian intend to adopt ET as a new tax if the revenue of this tax will be used to tackle environmental degradation, and around 69.5 percent of Palestinian intend to adopt ET as an increment to current taxes if the revenue will be used to tackle environmental problems. Finally, gender, age, the level of education, occupation, income, marital status, and place of residence are the social, economic, and demographic factors utilized in this research as control variables. These control variables were found to have not any significant effect on Palestinian intentions towards ETI.

7.2 IMPLICATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE STUDY Pro-environmental policies are regarded as an established tool of countering increased pollution. Several types of pro-environmental policies have been introduced by several governments in different countries, such as information programs, regulations, innovation policies, and environmental subsidies and taxes (OECD, 2011a). ET gained greater attention in the context of environmental protection after the obvious failure of other instruments. Like any pro-environmental policy, the ET require residents’ support to become effective. Rasool and Ogunbode (2015) argued that citizens’ support is regarded as a main factor towards the success of environmental policies. Thus, it is crucial to be aware of the factor affecting Palestinian intentions toward adopting a proenvironmental policy, which is in this vein, is the ET.

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The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is regarded as one of the greatest theories that help explain factors affecting people’s perception towards any behavior or decision that has been adopted in this research. Ajzen created TPB in 1985. TPB assumes that executing a specific behavior is contingent on man’s beliefs on the potential effects of that particular behavior. If someone believes that performing a behavior is beneficial, they will do it, and vice versa. In this research, the confirmations of the validity of the adopted assumption from the TPB have been documented. Thus, the implication of this research on TPB is rather obvious. Beliefs regarding the consequences of climate changes were the first independent variable of this research. It was found to positively affect attitude towards ETI. Therefore, this research confirms the suitability of using beliefs about the effects of climate change as a predictor for the WTP for environmental protection. This result is consistent with Dienes (2015), Duan et al. (2014), Veronesi et al. (2014), and Zhou (2014). Similarly, beliefs about potential impacts of ETI positively affected Palestinian attitudes towards ETI. The scale used to measure this point was developed in-house. As far as the researcher is aware of, this is the first research that utilized the beliefs of the potential impacts of ETI as a predictor of the citizens’ WTP for environmental protection. The results of this research attest to the validity of this scale in expecting people’s attitudes towards ETI. The implication of this result on knowledge is the provision of a new avenue for research by confirming or rejecting the validity of using such scale in predicting residents’ WTP for the mitigation of pollution. Another scientific contribution is the consistency between the attitude towards ETI and intention towards ETI among Palestinian by confirming the theory’s assumption that the attitude towards performing a certain behavior is a predictor to the

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intention of that behavior. Hence, the positive attitude towards ETI is reflected in a positive intention towards the ETI. This result is consistent with Al-Rabaani and AlMekhlaf (2009), de Leeuw et al. (2015), Leßmann and Masson (2015), and Schultz et al. (2004). In terms of the actual contributions and implications, this research will provide the regulators with the primary information about the thinking and the beliefs of the residents of Palestine. Hence, the policy makers can deal with Palestinians’ fears of potential impacts of climate change upon their life by motivating them to avoid any harmful consequences to the environment. Moreover, the government can benefit from the people’s beliefs, attitudes, and intentions towards the adoption of ET, and passing such laws in the parliament to preserve nature. If they do so, the populations’ support will guarantee smooth adoption and execution. Also, a successful adoption is expected, because the citizens’ favor it. A clean environment, increase the quality of life and reduce resource consumption are potential results from successful adoption. Finally, literature addressed the effects of social, economic, and demographic factors upon ETI. In previous research, these factors were found to have different effects on the WTP between nations. In light of this research, the social, economic, and demographic factors that were studied (gender, age, the level of education, occupation, income, marital status, and the place of residence) were found to not have any significant effects on Palestinian intentions towards ETI. Thus, a respectful contribution on the effects of these factors is provided to the literature, and their respective neutrality on the WTP was at least proven in the context of this study, which is unique, as it is conducted in the Arabic-speaking region. There is currently only one research done in this area, by Al-Rabaani and Al-Mekhlaf (2009), encompassing university students.

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Therefore, this research represents the first that elicit public opinions towards paying for environmental protection in the Arab world.

7.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY Despite the valuable contributions of this study to both academia and practice fields, it was still limited by a few factors that should be taken into account when attempting to use the results in other fields. First, this study covered only the residents of the West Bank, due to the fact that we were unable to elicit response from residents of the Gaza Strip as a result of political pressure. Second, the secondary data used in this study is partially estimated from the responsible parties in the Palestinian government, due to difficulty in accessing certain areas in the West bank. Third, similar to other environmental researches, some measures in this study are highly subjective, as it is reliant upon the citizens’ assessments of the questions in the questionnaire. Fourth, despite the fact that there are no differences among the groups of the category Place of Residence, the representativeness of the people who live in the camps is very weak, at only 1.5 percent of the sample. Fifth, this study adopted an online questionnaire for data collection, which is prone to several drawbacks. Sixth, the utilization of a full TPB’s framework was impossible due to several theoretical considerations, which could result in limiting the understanding of other variables affecting intention towards ETI. Seventh, although a definition of the ET was provided in the questionnaire and Palestinians being educated, the lack of full understanding of the ET could lead to the overestimation of its effects.

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7.4 FUTURE RESEARCH Despite the extensive coverage of this study towards certain factors that influence Palestinian intention towards ETI, regression analysis shows that around 55 percent of the factors was neglected in this work. Thus, future researchers should extend this study by covering other variables, such as internal conflict, the effects of the Israeli occupation, and political polarization, and include residents of Gaza Strip’s as well. Moreover, the current study was carried out through an online survey, and in the future, mixed methods, such as observation or interviews with the questionnaires that are manually distributed could be adopted instead. After ensuring that Palestinian become deeply aware about ET, utilizing the full model of TPB to check the factors that affect their perception towards ETI is useful to clearly understand their stance. Also, it could be a useful and interesting to test similar situations using other theoretical backgrounds, such as Institutional Theory and Stewardship Theory. Studies should also be conducted in other Arab countries to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the beliefs and intention towards paying for environmental protection. Finally, this research developed a scale to predict the willingness of adopting ET via checking citizens’ beliefs about the potential impacts ETI. This scale was proven to be effective in this work, and future work could make use of this scale for its predictive powers.

7.5 SUMMARY This chapter concludes the research. We managed to answer the research questions via empirical research. Palestinians are aware of the consequences of climate change, and are positive towards the potential impacts of ETI, which aggregate positively with their attitudes towards the ETI. Palestinians intend to adopt ET if the revenue will be used to

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protect the good environment, and their intention is consistent with their attitude, in line with the assumption of the TPB. The contributions of the literature for the current study confirm the use of beliefs about the consequences of climate change in predicting the WTP for environmental protection. Providing a new measure helps predict the WTP through the adoption of ET, proving its predictive power. Finally, this research could be a step forward in the way towards having a healthier environment in Palestine, and the world.

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APPENDIX 1

The sources of questions.

Section one: Demographic Information NO 1 2 3 4 6 5 7

The Questions Gender Age Level of Education Occupation Marital Status* Income Place of Residence

The Source (Masud & Kari, 2015) (Torgler & García-Valiñas, 2007) The Income tax act number 8 for 2011 (Rasool & Ogunbode, 2015)

*Marital Status was modified to suit the norms in the context.

Section two: The beliefs about the climate change consequences. NO 1 2 4 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The Questions Climate change is a manmade phenomenon. I have no idea about the causes of climate change. I think climate change is a real phenomenon and we cannot stop its effects. Climate change is a serious problem. Climate change could damage yourself. Climate change could damage your society. Climate change could seriously affect your future generations. Climate change could seriously affect plant and animal. Climate change could affect Palestinians’ daily activities. Climate change could cause spread of diseases that could affect Palestinians’ health. The severity of the climate change’s claims are exaggerated. You have experienced climate change effects.

182

The Source (Lorenzoni et al., 2007) (Kim et al., 2013)

(Duan et al., 2014)

(Bohr, 2014) (Maibach et al., 2011)

Section three: The beliefs about the potential impacts of the environmental tax. NO 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 11 12 8 10 9 13

The Questions Environmental tax could lead to reduction in air pollution. Environmental tax could lead to reduction in waste amount. Environmental tax is created by governments to fund nature protection. To become effective environmental tax should be imposed on all products that cause pollution. Environmental tax could change consumers’ behavior by directing their consumption habits through prices. Environmental tax could increase citizens’ awareness about environment. Environmental tax could make people more interested about environment. Environmental tax could lead to increase social inequality. Environmental tax could cost a polluter the real cost for a product. Environmental tax could save resources for future generations. Environmental tax could decrease the cost of production. Environmental tax could increase the quality of life. Environmental tax could safe animal from extinction.

183

The Source Pour et al. (2013) Jaime et al. (2010) Martins (2011) (Nel & Nienaber, 2012)

(Kim et al., 2013)

Lundgren and Brännlund (2009)

Fosgerau and Jensen (2013) (Maibach et al., 2011)

Section four: The attitude towards environmental tax implementation NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The Questions The Source Paying more money for using renewable and (Ramos et al., 2015) sustainable energy is acceptable. Nature protection deserves spending more money. The duty of government is to reduce environmental pollution. (Inglehart, 1995) Citizens should pay extra money in order to save environment. I prioritize environmental protection over (Owen & Videras, economic prosperity. 2006) We should worry too much about the economic (Franzen, 2003) situation. The Palestinian government should start regulating (Milfont et al., the environmental pollution. 2014) Palestinian government should invest in research and development to solve the pollution problem. (Kim et al., 2013) I think Palestinian government should impose environmental tax in order to save the nature. Environmental tax is fair. The climate change problem should be addressed. (Hanson, 2011) The Palestinian government should take (Duan et al., 2014) immediate actions to mitigate the effects of climate change at any cost.

Section five: The intention towards environmental tax implementation NO 1 2

3 4

The Questions I intend to pay new taxes if I am sure that the money could be used to protect nature. I intend to increase my current taxes if the increment amount could reduce the environmental pollution. I intend to support the government if they introduce environmental tax. I intend to accept the government decision if they create initiative for environmental tax.

184

The Source (Inglehart, 1995)

(Kim et al., 2013)

APPENDIX 2

QUESTIONNAIRE Assalaamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh To Whom It May Concern Dear Sir/Madam

My name is Mohammed Shaheen, Matric number G1315127, currently studying Master of Science (Accounting) at the International Islamic University Malaysia. My research topic is ‘The factors that affect Palestinian’s intention towards environmental tax implementation”. Your answer for the entire questionnaire will be appreciated and it will help in increasing understanding of the Palestinians’ position towards the environment pollution dilemma. The confidentiality and anonymity of the respondents are guaranteed. The results will be presented in an aggregated form. Your participation could contribute positively to change in the Palestinians’ environmental situation. Please send any inquiries to my email at [email protected]. I will be very glad to respond to you. Thank you for your participation and let’s save our world together. Wassalaamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh Yours truly, Mohammed M. S. Shaheen Matric Number G1315127 Master Student Accounting Department International Islamic university Malaysia

185

Associate Professor Dr Siti Normala Sheikh Obid Supervisor Accounting Department International Islamic university Malaysia

(A) Demography Instruction: Please tick (√) beside the suitable answer. 1

Gender

[ ] Male

[ ] Female

2

Age

[ ] 18-30 years [ ] 31-45 years

[ ] 46-60 years [ ] More than 60 years

[ ] Uneducated [ ] Primary [ ] Lower secondary school

[ ] Higher secondary school [ ] Diploma [ ] University

[ [ [ [

[ ] Retired [ ] At home [ ] Student

3

Level of Education

] Full time employed ] Part time employed ] Self employed ] Unemployed

4

Occupation

5

Monthly income

[ ] Less than NIS 3300 [ ] NIS 3300- NIS 6600

[ ] More than NIS 6600

6

Marital status

[ ] Single [ ] Married

[ ] Divorced/ Widowed

7

Place of residence

[ ] City/ Urban [ ] Village/ Rural

[ ] Camps

186

(B) Awareness about the severity of Climate Change. Climate Change: Is the changing of the natural phenomena such as extreme temperatures (very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter), drought in some areas and floods in others, and global warming that result in melting ice in the south and north of the world. Strongly Disagree Neutral disagree 1

Climate change is a manmade phenomenon. 2 I have no idea about the causes of climate change. 3 Climate change is a serious problem. 4 I think climate change is a real phenomenon and we cannot stop its effects. 5 Climate change could damage yourself. 6 Climate change could damage your society. 7 Climate change could seriously affect your future generations. 8 Climate change could seriously affect plant and animal. 9 Climate change could affect Palestinians’ daily activities. 10 Climate change could cause spread of diseases that could affect Palestinians’ health. 11 The severity of the climate change’s claims are exaggerated. 12 You have experienced climate change effects.

187

Agree

Strongly agree

(C) The beliefs about the potential impact of environmental tax. Environmental Tax: is a tax imposing on the sources of pollution to discourage its usage, and the tax revenue should be used to save environment. Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly disagree agree 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9 10

11

12

13

Environmental tax could lead to reduction in air pollution. Environmental tax could lead to reduction in waste amount. Environmental tax is created by governments to fund nature protection. To become effective environmental tax should be imposed on all products that cause pollution. Environmental tax could change consumers’ behavior by directing their consumption habits through prices. Environmental tax could increase citizens’ awareness about environment. Environmental tax could make people more interested about maintaining good environment. Environmental tax could save resources for future generations. Environmental tax could increase the quality of life. Environmental tax could decrease the cost of production. Environmental tax could lead to increase the economic and social inequalities. Environmental tax could cost a polluter the real cost for a product. Environmental tax could safe animal from extinction.

188

(D) Attitude towards environmental tax implementation Strongly Disagree Neutral disagree 1

Paying more money for using renewable and sustainable energy is acceptable. 2 Nature protection deserves spending more money. 3 The duty of government is to reduce environmental pollution. 4 Citizens should pay extra money in order to save environment. 5 I prioritize environmental protection over economic prosperity. 6 We should worry too much about the economic situation. 7 The Palestinian government should start regulating the environmental pollution. 8 Palestinian government should invest in research and development to solve the pollution problem. 9 I think Palestinian government should impose environmental tax in order to save the nature. 10 Environmental tax is fair. 11 The climate change problem should be addressed. 12 The Palestinian government should take immediate actions to mitigate the effects of climate change at any cost.

189

Agree

Strongly agree

(E) Intention towards environmental tax implementation. Strongly Disagree Neutral disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

1 I intend to pay new taxes if I am sure that the money could be used to protect nature. 2 I intend to increase my current taxes if the increment amount could reduce the environmental pollution. 3 I intend to support the government if they introduce environmental tax. 4 I intend to accept the government decision if they create initiative for environmental tax.

(F) Please write down any suggestions or comments. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION MOHAMMED SHAHEEN MATRIC NUMBER G1315127 MASTER STUDENT Email: [email protected] ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

190

‫‪APPENDIX 3‬‬

‫السالم عليكم و رحمة هللا و بركاته‬ ‫لمن يهمه االمر‬ ‫السادة االعزاء‬ ‫اسمي محمد شاهين‪ ،‬رقمي الجامعي ‪ ،G1315127‬أدرس حاليا ماجستير علوم‬ ‫المحاسبة في الجامعة االسالمية العالمية ماليزيا‪ .‬موضوع دراستي هو " العوامل التي‬ ‫تؤثر على نية الفلسطينيين نحو تقبل الضرائب البيئية"‪ .‬إجابتكم لكل أجزاء هذه االستبانة‬ ‫مشكوره جدا و ستساعد في زيادة فهم موقف الفلسطينيين اتجاه معضلة التلوث البيئي‪.‬‬ ‫سرية معلوماتكم ومشاركتكم في هذه االستبانة مضمونة ولن تعرض اال ضمن إطار‬ ‫كافة االستبانات‪ .‬مشاركتكم ربما تؤدي الى تحسن الوضع البيئي في فلسطين‪ .‬يرجى‬ ‫إرسال اية استفسارات على عنوان البريد االلكتروني التالي‬ ‫‪ ، [email protected]‬و سأكون سعيدا جدا باإلجابة عليها‪.‬‬ ‫شكرا جزيال لمشاركتكم في هذه الدراسة و هيا لنحمي بيئتنا معا‬ ‫و السالم عليكم و رحمة هللا و بركاته‬ ‫و تفضلوا بقبول فائق االحترام‬ ‫محمد شاهين‬ ‫الرقم الجامعي ‪G1315127‬‬ ‫طالب ماجستير‬ ‫دائرة المحاسبة‬ ‫الجامعة االسالمية العالمية ماليزيا‬

‫األستاذة المشاركة د‪ .‬سيتي نورماال‬ ‫شيخ عبيد‬ ‫مشرفة‬ ‫دائرة المحاسبة‬ ‫الجامعة االسالمية العالمية ماليزيا‬

‫‪191‬‬

‫تعليمات‪ :‬الرجاء وضع إشارة (√) بجانب االجابة االكثر مالئمة‪.‬‬ ‫القسم األول‪ :‬معلومات ديموغرافية‬ ‫‪ 1‬الجنس‬

‫( ) ذكر‬

‫( ) أنثى‬

‫‪ 2‬العمر‬

‫( ) ‪ 30 -18‬سنه‬ ‫( ) ‪ 45 -31‬سنه‬

‫( ) ‪ 60 -46‬سنه‬ ‫( ) أكثر من ‪ 60‬سنه‬

‫‪ 3‬مستوى الدراسة‬

‫( ) غير دارس‬ ‫( ) أساسية دنيا‬ ‫( ) أساسية عليا‬

‫( ) ثانوية‬ ‫( ) دبلوم‬ ‫( ) جامعة‬ ‫( ) متقاعد‬ ‫( ) في البيت‬

‫‪ 4‬العمل‬

‫( ) موظف بدوام كامل‬ ‫( ) موظف بدوام‬ ‫جزئي‬ ‫( ) طالب‬ ‫( ) أعمال حرة‬ ‫أخرى______________‬ ‫( ) بدون عمل‬ ‫( ) أقل من ‪3300‬‬ ‫شيكل‬ ‫( ) ‪6600-3300‬‬ ‫شيكل‬

‫( ) أكثر من ‪6600‬‬ ‫شيكل‬

‫الحالة‬ ‫‪6‬‬ ‫االجتماعية‬

‫( ) أعزب‪/‬عزباء‬ ‫( ) متزوج‪/‬ة‬

‫( ) مطلق‪/‬ة‪ ،‬أرمل‪/‬ة‬

‫‪ 7‬مكان السكن‬

‫( ) مدينة‪/‬حضر‬ ‫( ) قرية‪/‬ريف‬

‫( ) مخيم‬

‫‪ 5‬الدخل الشهري‬

‫‪192‬‬

‫القسم الثاني ‪ :‬ادراك خطورة التغير المناخي‪.‬‬ ‫التغير المناخي‪ :‬هو التغير في الظواهر الطبيعية كالتغير الكبير في درجات الحرارة‬ ‫(حار جدا في الصيف وبارد جدا في الشتاء) والجفاف والفيضانات‪ ،‬باإلضافة الى‬ ‫االحتباس الحراري الذي يؤدي الى إذابة الجليد في قطبي األرض الشمالي والجنوبي‪.‬‬ ‫غير غير محايد موافق موافق‬ ‫بشدة‬ ‫موافق موافق‬ ‫بشدة‬ ‫‪ 1‬سبب التغير المناخي هو االنسان‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 2‬ليس لدي أية أفكار عن سبب التغير‬ ‫المناخي‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 3‬التغير المناخي مشكلة خطيرة‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 4‬التغير المناخي مشكله حقيقية ولكن‬ ‫ال نستطيع عمل أي شيء لوقفها‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 5‬التغير المناخي ربما يؤثر على‬ ‫حياتك شخصيا‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 6‬التغير المناخي ربما يؤثر على حياة‬ ‫المجتمع‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 7‬التغير المناخي ربما يؤثر بشكل‬ ‫سلبي على األجيال القادمة‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 8‬التغير المناخي ربما يؤثر بشكل‬ ‫سلبي على النباتات والحيوانات‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 9‬التغير المناخي ربما يؤثر على‬ ‫الحياة اليومية للفلسطينيين‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 10‬التغير المناخي ربما يساهم في‬ ‫انتشار األمراض التي قد تعرض‬ ‫صحة الناس للخطر‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 11‬خطورة التغير المناخي هي‬ ‫إدعاءات مبالغ فيها‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 12‬تأثير التغير المناخي ملموس فعليا‬ ‫في حياتك‪.‬‬

‫‪193‬‬

‫القسم الثالث‪ :‬االعتقاد حول التأثيرات المتوقعة للضرائب البيئية‪.‬‬ ‫الضريبة البيئية‪ :‬هي ضريبة تفرض على ملوثات البيئة من أجل الحد من استخدامها‪،‬‬ ‫وتستغل ايراداتها في حماية البيئة‪.‬‬ ‫غير غير محايد موافق موافق‬ ‫بشدة‬ ‫موافق موافق‬ ‫بشدة‬ ‫‪1‬‬ ‫‪2‬‬ ‫‪3‬‬ ‫‪4‬‬ ‫‪5‬‬ ‫‪6‬‬ ‫‪7‬‬ ‫‪8‬‬ ‫‪9‬‬ ‫‪10‬‬ ‫‪11‬‬ ‫‪12‬‬ ‫‪13‬‬

‫تؤدي الضرائب البيئية الى تقليل‬ ‫تلوث الهواء‪.‬‬ ‫تؤدي الضرائب البيئية الى انخفاض‬ ‫النفايات الصلبة‪.‬‬ ‫أنشئت الضرائب البيئية من قبل‬ ‫الحكومات لتمويل حماية البيئة‪.‬‬ ‫لن تكون الضرائب البيئية فعالة مالم‬ ‫تفرض على جميع ملوثات البيئة‪.‬‬ ‫ستغير الضرائب البيئية عادات‬ ‫المستهلكين من خالل االسعار‪.‬‬ ‫قد ترفع الضرائب البيئية وعي‬ ‫الناس حول المشاكل البيئية‪.‬‬ ‫قد تجعل الضرائب البيئية الناس‬ ‫أكثر اهتماما بالبيئة‪.‬‬ ‫قد تؤدي الضرائب البيئية الى حماية‬ ‫الموارد لألجيال القادمة‪.‬‬ ‫قد تؤدي الضرائب البيئية الى‬ ‫إرتفاع جودة الحياة‪.‬‬ ‫قد تؤدي الضرائب البيئية الى‬ ‫انخفاض تكلفة االنتاج‪.‬‬ ‫قد تزيد الضرائب البيئية الفوارق‬ ‫االجتماعية و االقتصادية‪.‬‬ ‫قد تؤدي الضرائب البيئية الى‬ ‫تحميل الملوثين التكلفة الحقيقية‬ ‫لمنتجاتهم‪.‬‬ ‫تحمي الضرائب البيئية الحيوانات‬ ‫من االنقراض‪.‬‬

‫‪194‬‬

‫القسم الرابع‪ :‬الموقف من اعتماد الضرائب البيئية‪.‬‬ ‫غير غير محايد موافق موافق‬ ‫بشدة‬ ‫موافق موافق‬ ‫بشدة‬ ‫‪ 1‬دفع أموال إضافية من أجل استخدام‬ ‫الطاقة المتجددة والمستدامة مقبول‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 2‬تستحق حماية البيئة دفع المزيد من‬ ‫المال‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 3‬وظيفة الحكومة هي الحد من التلوث‬ ‫البيئي‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 4‬يجب على المواطنين دفع أموال‬ ‫إضافية من أجل حماية البيئة‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 5‬أنا أعطي االولوية لحماية البيئة‬ ‫على االزدهار االقتصادي‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 6‬يجب القلق على الوضع االقتصادي‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 7‬يجب الحكومة الفلسطينية البدء‬ ‫بتقنين التلوث البيئي‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 8‬يجب على الحكومة الفلسطينية‬ ‫االستثمار في االبحاث التي تهدف‬ ‫الى تقليل التلوث‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 9‬يجب على الحكومة الفلسطينية‬ ‫فرض الضرائب البيئية من أجل‬ ‫حماية البيئة‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 10‬الضريبة البيئية عادلة‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 11‬يجب التعامل مع مشكلة التغير‬ ‫المناخي‪.‬‬ ‫‪ 12‬يجب على الحكومة الفلسطينية أن‬ ‫تأخذ خطوات فورية من أجل الحد‬ ‫من التغير المناخي وبأية تكلفة‪.‬‬

‫‪195‬‬

‫القسم الخامس‪ :‬نية قبول الضرائب البيئية‪.‬‬ ‫غير غير محايد موافق موافق‬ ‫بشدة‬ ‫موافق موافق‬ ‫بشدة‬ ‫‪1‬‬ ‫‪2‬‬ ‫‪3‬‬ ‫‪4‬‬

‫أنوي قبول ضرائب جديدة إذا كنت‬ ‫متأكدا ً من أن هذه االموال سوف‬ ‫تذهب لحماية البيئة‪.‬‬ ‫أنوي قبول زيادة في الضرائب‬ ‫الحالية إذا كنت متأكدا ً من أن هذه‬ ‫الزيادة سوف تذهب لحماية البيئة‪.‬‬ ‫أنوي تأييد قرار الحكومة الفلسطينية‬ ‫إذا اتخذ بابتكار الضرائب البيئية‪.‬‬ ‫أنوي قبول قرار الحكومة الفلسطينية‬ ‫إذا اتخذ بفرض الضرائب البيئية‪.‬‬

‫القسم السادس‪ :‬الرجاء كتابة أية اقتراحات أو تعليقات باألسفل‪.‬‬ ‫‪-----------------------------------------------------------------------------‬‬‫‪-----------------------------------------------------------------------------‬‬‫‪-----------------------------------------------------------------------------‬‬‫شكرا جزيال لمشاركتكم‬ ‫محمد شاهين‬ ‫الرقم الجامعي ‪G1315127‬‬ ‫طالب ماجستير‬ ‫البريد االلكتروني ‪[email protected]‬‬ ‫دائرة المحاسبة‪ -‬الجامعة االسالمية العالمية ماليزيا‬

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