The impact of policy awareness : Evidence from vehicle choices response to fiscal incentives
(2023) In Journal of Public Economics 226.- Abstract
Isolating the role of limited knowledge, psychological frictions and policy characteristics is key when evaluating a public program and designing future policies. We document limited awareness about the presence of fiscal incentives towards fuel efficient vehicles. Exploiting a direct measure of awareness at the individual level, we find vehicle choices response heterogeneity to these fiscal incentives between aware and unaware individuals. To estimate the effect of awareness, we leverage a field experiment randomizing information about the mere existence of the fiscal incentives. We show the simple intervention substantially increases policy awareness among vehicle buyers and affects consumers’ vehicle choices. Further, we find... (More)
Isolating the role of limited knowledge, psychological frictions and policy characteristics is key when evaluating a public program and designing future policies. We document limited awareness about the presence of fiscal incentives towards fuel efficient vehicles. Exploiting a direct measure of awareness at the individual level, we find vehicle choices response heterogeneity to these fiscal incentives between aware and unaware individuals. To estimate the effect of awareness, we leverage a field experiment randomizing information about the mere existence of the fiscal incentives. We show the simple intervention substantially increases policy awareness among vehicle buyers and affects consumers’ vehicle choices. Further, we find increased awareness induces consumers to purchase vehicles that consume less fuel. Together, our findings highlight that limited awareness represents a critical barrier to the effectiveness of public programs.
(Less)
- author
- Cerruti, Davide ; Daminato, Claudio LU and Filippini, Massimo
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-10
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Environmental taxation, Fiscal programs, Policy awareness, Vehicle choices
- in
- Journal of Public Economics
- volume
- 226
- article number
- 104973
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85170036995
- ISSN
- 0047-2727
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2023.104973
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 0434df5e-801d-463a-b1e3-34d22de07713
- date added to LUP
- 2023-10-23 15:28:31
- date last changed
- 2023-10-23 15:28:31
@article{0434df5e-801d-463a-b1e3-34d22de07713,
abstract = {{<p>Isolating the role of limited knowledge, psychological frictions and policy characteristics is key when evaluating a public program and designing future policies. We document limited awareness about the presence of fiscal incentives towards fuel efficient vehicles. Exploiting a direct measure of awareness at the individual level, we find vehicle choices response heterogeneity to these fiscal incentives between aware and unaware individuals. To estimate the effect of awareness, we leverage a field experiment randomizing information about the mere existence of the fiscal incentives. We show the simple intervention substantially increases policy awareness among vehicle buyers and affects consumers’ vehicle choices. Further, we find increased awareness induces consumers to purchase vehicles that consume less fuel. Together, our findings highlight that limited awareness represents a critical barrier to the effectiveness of public programs.</p>}},
author = {{Cerruti, Davide and Daminato, Claudio and Filippini, Massimo}},
issn = {{0047-2727}},
keywords = {{Environmental taxation; Fiscal programs; Policy awareness; Vehicle choices}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Journal of Public Economics}},
title = {{The impact of policy awareness : Evidence from vehicle choices response to fiscal incentives}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2023.104973}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.jpubeco.2023.104973}},
volume = {{226}},
year = {{2023}},
}