Seminar: Information and Preferences for Public Spending: Evidence from Representative Survey Experiments

Time: 13.00-14.00 hours
Location: CPB-office, Van Stolkweg 14, The Hague

Presentation: Guido Schwerdt (Universität Konstanz)

Discussant: Kenny Martens (CPB)

Language: English

Registration: Please register by sending an email to seminars@cpb.nl.

Abstract subject:
If citizens are ignorant of the extent of public spending, the size of government may not properly reflect citizens’ preferences. We devise a series of survey experiments to test whether preferences for public spending depend on information status. We find that providing information on current spending levels reduces support for increased public spending with effects being largest among citizens who underestimate current spending levels. When asked about preferences for teacher salary increases, treatment effects are negative for those who underestimate current salary levels, but in fact inexistent for those who correctly estimate and positive for those who overestimate. Further evidence suggests that providing citizens with information on the cost of specific education reforms reduces support for the reforms.

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