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Do People Support Information Campaigns About Inequality?

Author

Listed:
  • Sebastian Blesse
  • Philipp Lergetporer
  • Clara-Marie Pache
  • Helen Zeidler

Abstract

We study beliefs about whether information campaigns can shift public support for redistribution in a survey with more than 3,000 respondents. We randomly provide respondents with evidence from a meta-study about the share of information interventions that do not significantly affect redistributive preferences. This information strongly changes respondents’ beliefs about the effectiveness of such campaigns. Descriptively, respondents who are more skeptical about the effectiveness of information campaigns are also less supportive of disseminating such information. However, we find no causal effect of experimentally shifting these beliefs on support for government provision of inequality-related information to the public, which is generally high. We analyze open-ended responses to study why experimentally shifting beliefs about the effectiveness of information campaigns does not affect support for information dissemination.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian Blesse & Philipp Lergetporer & Clara-Marie Pache & Helen Zeidler, 2026. "Do People Support Information Campaigns About Inequality?," CESifo Working Paper Series 12708, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12708
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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