Cross-National Variation in the Size of Passenger Car Fleets: A Study in Environmentally Significant Consumption

To help build theory on the factors contributing to environmentally significant consumption, I analyze cross-national variation in the size of passenger car fleets. I take into consideration multiple factors—demographic, economic, and socio-political—that potentially influence motorization. The results indicate that all types of factors have a significant influence on national motorization, although economic factors are the most influential. I conclude that in order to properly understand consumption practices we need to consider multiple perspectives and recognize that there are global structural conditions that form the context in which causal processes unfold.