Trust in Government and Its Determinants: An Empirical Study of Public Acceptability for Carbon Tax in Malaysia

Trust in government is a significant factor influencing the public acceptability of environmental tax. Without trust, implementing and sustaining new tax policy challenging due to resistance. However, gaining trust from even more developing countries where corruption common issue. Despite risk rejection, many countries, including Malaysia, are adopting carbon as reduce emissions. This has raised question impact on for implementation Malaysia. Another critical concern identifying predictors government, which researchers have given less attention. Three main features good governance—accountability, integrity, competence—were examined government. A nationwide survey Malaysia was conducted using an online questionnaire, 566 respondents completed survey. The data were analysed Structural Equation Model (SEM) via Amos. results show that influenced by government’s accountability, competence. In contrast with past studies, does not influence Malaysian acceptance behaviour. Instead, only accountability influences among public. concerned about spending; hence, must be transparent its spending redistributing revenue top priority gain policy.