Environmental behaviours in the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany between 1993 and 2010: macro-level trends and individual-level determinants compared

Comparing environmental behaviours in the neighbouring countries of Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany, this article discusses the national and individual level determinants of private and public environmental actions. For this purpose, survey data collected by the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) in 1993, 2000 and 2010 are analysed. The analysis reveals that values are more important for public behaviour and socio-demographics are more important for private behaviour. At the macro-level, an initial gap can be reported: Public and private behaviours were less frequent in the Czech Republic and also to a certain extent in East Germany. The gap between these former socialist countries and Austria and Germany has decreased over time. The convergence, however, happens at an overall low level of public behaviour and an overall high level of private behaviour.