TY - RPRT A1 - Funke, Franziska A1 - Konc, Théo A1 - Mattauch, Linus A1 - Pahle, Michael A1 - Schwarz, Antonia A1 - Sommer, Stephan T1 - Prices vs. Quantities from a Citizen’s Perspective T2 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers N2 - We propose a theory of public appraisal and employ it to explain divergent public opinion on similar economic policy instruments. In a survey-based policy design experiment with 13,665 respondents from seven European countries, we study how policy perceptions and support rates differ across carbon pricing designed as “carbon taxation” and “emissions trading”. While there is considerable cross-country variation in the appraisal of both instruments, the emissions trading design reduces opposition in all countries except Germany. We find that the treatment effects of instrument design on policy perceptions are substantial: carbon taxes are consistently more often perceived as increasing the state budget, harming the economy, and increasing costs of living and production. Using causal mediation analysis, we ascertain that lower opposition to emissions trading is partly due to its perception as less costly. Overall, our results suggest that the public consistently perceives taxes as a “tougher” measure, and that emissions trading appeals more to European constituencies not already supportive of climate policy. T3 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers - 76 Y1 - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-59502 UR - https://berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insights/discussion-papers U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-5950 ET - No. 76 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Arlinghaus, Johanna A1 - Konc, Théo A1 - Mattauch, Linus A1 - Sommer, Stephan T1 - The effect of framing on policy support: Experimental evidence from urban transport policies T2 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers N2 - Do citizens support policy instruments because they appreciate their effects or because they are convinced by their objectives? We administered a large-scale representative survey with randomised video treatments to test how different policy frames - time savings, health and environment - affect citizens' attitudes towards urban tolls in two large European metropolitan areas, Berlin-Brandenburg and Paris-Ile de France. Presenting urban tolls as a solution to air pollution increases support by up to 11.4 percentage points, presenting them as a climate change or congestion relief measure increases support by 7.1 and 6.5 percentage points, respectively. We demonstrate via a causal mediation analysis that the observed changes in policy support are mainly framing effects; changes in beliefs about policy effects play a secondary role. Thus, we uncover a new mechanism shaping public opinion on economic policies: the stated objectives of an identical policy design can shape citizens' views in distinct ways. T3 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers - 77 Y1 - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-59648 UR - https://berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insights/discussion-papers U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-5964 ET - No. 77 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Sommer, Stephan A1 - Konc, Théo A1 - Drews, Stefan T1 - How resilient is public support for carbon pricing? Longitudinal evidence from Germany T2 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers N2 - The success of climate policies depends crucially on the dynamics of public support. Using unique longitudinal data from three surveys conducted between 2019 and 2022, we study the variations of public support for carbon pricing in Germany. The period includes two relevant events: the introduction and ramping up of carbon pricing in Germany and the exogenous increase in energy prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Using panel methods, we show that support is very persistent over time and might have increased slightly more recently. However, people who experience high energy costs display a lower support. Regarding revenue use, we detect that social cushioning has become more popular after the introduction of carbon pricing. Our findings suggest that it is crucial to gather enough support before implementing climate policies. T3 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers - 21 Y1 - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-50233 UR - https://berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insights/bse-discussion-papers U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-5023 ET - No. 21 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Dögnitz, Lorenz A1 - Konc, Théo A1 - Mattauch, Linus T1 - The Political Economics of Green Transitions: Optimal Intertemporal Policy Response T2 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers N2 - Besley and Persson (2023) pioneer a political economy model of a green transition with changing preferences. Here we solve for the optimal policy intervention and find that the optimal tax on the polluting good starts high and is subsequently declining, to support the transition in preferences. We quantify the welfare loss of ignoring preference changes. T3 - Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers - 47 Y1 - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-55960 UR - https://berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insights/discussion-papers U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-5596 ET - No. 47 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Arlinghaus, Johanna A1 - Konc, Théo A1 - Mattauch, Linus A1 - Sommer, Stephan T1 - The effect of information framing on policy support: Experimental evidence from urban policies T2 - Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2024: Upcoming Labor Market Challenges N2 - Does information influence policy support? We administer a large-scale representative survey with randomised video treatments to test how different policy frames affect citizens’ attitudes towards urban tolls in two large European metropolitan areas without tolls, Berlin-Brandenburg and Paris-Ile de France. Providing information on air pollution increases support by up to 11.4%p, information on climate change and time savings increase support by 7.1 and 6.5 %p, respectively. Treatment effects are stronger in the Paris region, where initial support is lower. We also investigate treatment effect heterogeneity across different socioeconomic characteristics as well as by prior beliefs held about the severity of environmental and traffic problems, and we find weak spillovers of our treatment on the support of other policies. Our findings imply that targeted communication of policy co-benefits can increase policy support across different population groups. Y1 - 2024 UR - https://hdl.handle.net/10419/302449 PB - ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics CY - Kiel, Hamburg ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Arlinghaus, Johanna A1 - Konc, Théo A1 - Mattauch, Linus A1 - Sommer, Stephan T1 - The effect of framing on policy support: Experimental evidence from urban transport policies N2 - Do citizens support policy instruments because they appreciate their effects or because they are convinced by their objectives? We administered a large-scale representative survey with randomised video treatments to test how different policy frames – time savings, health and environment – affect citizens’ attitudes towards urban tolls in two large European metropolitan areas, Berlin-Brandenburg and Paris-Ile de France. Presenting urban tolls as a solution to air pollution increases support by up to 11.4%p, presenting them as a climate change or congestion relief measure increases support by 7.1 and 6.5 %p, respectively. A causal mediation analysis demonstrates that the observed changes in policy support are mainly framing effects, changes in beliefs about policy effects play a secondary role. Thus, we exhibit a new effect in public opinion about economic policies: Different specified objectives for the same policy design can affect citizen’s views differently. Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5359102 PB - SSRN ER -