Data and Code for: Yellow Vests, Pessimistic Beliefs, and Carbon Tax Aversion

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Thomas Douenne, University of Amsterdam; Adrien Fabre, ETH Zürich (D-MTEC)

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
yellow_vests_aej_ep			05/11/2021 09:22:AM

Project Citation:

Douenne, Thomas, and Fabre, Adrien. Data and Code for: Yellow Vests, Pessimistic Beliefs, and Carbon Tax Aversion. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2022. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-01-28. https://doi.org/10.3886/E128143V1

Project Description

Summary:

Using a representative survey, we find that after the Yellow Vests movement, French people would largely reject a tax & dividend policy, i.e., a carbon tax whose revenues are redistributed uniformly to each adult. They overestimate their net monetary losses, wrongly think that the policy is regressive, and do not perceive it as environmentally effective. We show that changing people’s beliefs can substantially increase support. Although significant, the effects of our informational treatments on beliefs are small. Indeed, the respondents that oppose the tax tend to discard positive information about it, which is consistent with distrust, uncertainty, or motivated reasoning.

Funding Sources: Cepremap; EUR PGSE (ANR-17-EURE-0001 and ANR16-CE03-0011); Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne economics doctoral school (ED 465)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Climate policy; Carbon tax; Beliefs; Preferences; Tax Aversion

JEL Classification:
      D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
      D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
      H23 Taxation and Subsidies: Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
      H31 Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household
      Q58 Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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Published Versions

V1 [2022-01-28]

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