Comparative Analysis of Proximal and Distal Determinants for the Acceptance of Coercive Charging Policies in the UK and Japan

Coercive policies, such as road pricing or environmental taxation, are policies of an authority that charges or restricts its subjects in order to protect or restore common goods. Studies have shown it is important to understand the acceptability of such policies to the general public to guarantee long-term success. Our analysis, based on a limited survey of British and Japanese students, investigates well-established psychological factors that determine acceptability of road pricing directly or indirectly, such as perceived effectiveness, fairness, or problem awareness, as well as the role of a general trust in the government and a belief in “absolute values.”