Abstract Societal efforts towards greening the economy are typically accompanied by controversy over whether voluntary initiatives by firms or government regulation are more effective to that end. Recent research argues that public opinion plays an important role in this regard because citizens’ preferences are crucial when democratic policy-makers decide. We investigate whether and how citizens’ general attitudes regarding the relationship between the private sector and government can help explain their policy preferences. We argue that whether citizens perceive the state-private sector relationship as synergistic or antagonistic has an effect on their support for private sector self-regulation or government regulation respectively. We assess this argument based on information from a representative survey (N = 1677) in Switzerland. We find that citizens who regard the state-private sector relationship in environmental policy-making as synergistic favor private sector self-regulation. In contrast, citizens who regard the state-private sector relationship as antagonistic prefer either self-regulation or government intervention. We also observe that views on whether firms engage in self-regulation to gain a competitive economic advantage shape the perception of a synergistic state-private sector relationship. Our findings are relevant to current green economy debates as policy-makers in Europe and elsewhere are trying to move beyond the ‘either firms or the state’ paradigm in regulatory environmental politics.

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通过自愿的私营部门倡议或政府监管来绿化经济？舆论视角

摘要 为实现绿色经济而做出的社会努力通常伴随着关于企业的自愿举措或政府监管是否更有效的争论。最近的研究认为，公众舆论在这方面发挥着重要作用，因为在民主决策者做出决定时，公民的偏好至关重要。我们调查公民对私营部门与政府之间关系的一般态度是否以及如何有助于解释他们的政策偏好。我们认为，公民是否认为国家与私营部门的关系是协同或对抗的，分别影响他们对私营部门自律或政府监管的支持。我们根据瑞士代表性调查 (N = 1677) 的信息评估这一论点。我们发现，将环境决策中的国家-私营部门关系视为协同作用的公民更喜欢私营部门的自我监管。相比之下，认为国家与私营部门关系对立的公民更喜欢自我监管或政府干预。我们还观察到，关于企业是否参与自我监管以获得竞争性经济优势的观点塑造了对协同的国家-私营部门关系的看法。我们的研究结果与当前的绿色经济辩论相关，因为欧洲和其他地方的政策制定者正试图超越监管环境政治中的“非公司或国家”范式。将国家与私营部门的关系视为对立的公民更喜欢自律或政府干预。我们还观察到，关于企业是否参与自我监管以获得竞争性经济优势的观点塑造了对协同的国家-私营部门关系的看法。我们的研究结果与当前的绿色经济辩论相关，因为欧洲和其他地方的政策制定者正试图超越监管环境政治中的“非公司或国家”范式。将国家与私营部门的关系视为对立的公民更喜欢自我调节或政府干预。我们还观察到，关于企业是否参与自我监管以获得竞争性经济优势的观点塑造了对协同的国家-私营部门关系的看法。我们的研究结果与当前的绿色经济辩论相关，因为欧洲和其他地方的政策制定者正试图超越监管环境政治中的“非公司或国家”范式。