The impact of policy awareness: Evidence from vehicle choices response to fiscal incentives

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cerruti, Davide; Daminato, Claudio; Filippini, Massimo
• 署名单位: Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; ETH Zurich; Lund University; Universita della Svizzera Italiana
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2023.104973
• 发表日期: 2023
• 关键词: Policy awareness Fiscal programs Environmental taxation Vehicle choices

摘要

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.