No. 2023-25 - Increasing the acceptability of carbon taxation: The role of social norms and economic reasoning

Abstract:

Green transitions require ambitious policy. This poses a political economy challenge. We study how social norms and economic reasoning jointly shape public views towards carbon taxation with uniform redistribution, using a representative survey experiment in the U.S. (N=2,688). Video interventions that correct misperceived norms about climate action and/or explain the policy lead to an initial boost in support that fades away after several months and does not increase environmental donations. However, the combined intervention persistently reduces strong opposition by over 20%, pointing towards the joint roles of different motives in shifting the Overton window for climate policy.