Green with Anger. Polarised environmental mobilisation and the knowledge economy

Fabiano Compagnucci, Daria Denti (), Alessandra Faggian and Arsène Perrot ()
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Daria Denti: Gran Sasso Science Institute
Arsène Perrot: Gran Sasso Science Institute

No 2025-13, Discussion Paper series in Regional Science & Economic Geography from Gran Sasso Science Institute, Social Sciences

Abstract: The green transition unfolds against a backdrop of widening territorial inequalities driven by the spatial concentration of the knowledge economy. While knowledge-intensive regions with educated, affluent populations might be expected to champion environmental causes, this paper reveals a counter-intuitive pattern. Using novel measures of pro- and anti-environmental activism across Italian provinces (2012-2022) and a Bartik-like instrumental variable, we find that knowledge economy concentration reduces pro-environmental activism nearly twice as much as anti-environmental activism. This asymmetry creates a compositional shift where knowledge-intensive areas exhibit relatively more anti-environmental sentiment in their remaining activism. The findings challenge simplified assumptions about education, affluence, and environmental support, revealing that territorial economic structures fundamentally alter engagement patterns. Green transition policies must account for how different economic contexts generate distinct mobilization patterns, addressing both the reduced collective action in knowledge hubs and resistance in vulnerable territories.

Keywords: green transition; climate crisis; local resentment; knowledge economy; activism; polarisation; local vulnerability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D74 Q54 Q58 R11 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2025-02, Revised 2025-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo and nep-uep
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ahy:wpaper:wp75

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