How the Visibility of Policy Benefits Shapes Support for Ecological Taxes: Experimental Evidence Switzerland

Ecological economists argue strongly in favor of incentive-based approaches to promote the transition of energy systems towards renewables and to reduce energy consumption. However, these instruments have been shown to be particularly difficult to implement politically. In particular, the more visible costs of a tax compared with regulation, emission trading, or subsidies the more pronounced public opposition. This has prompted interest in the potential to mitigate public concerns through recycling of carbon tax revenues, especially the “fee and dividend” model advanced by the US economists’ letter. However, empirical evidence on whether and how citizens actually react to such revenue recycling is to date very limited. This is also due to the fact that only two countries (Canada and Switzerland) currently use cap and dividend policies. Moreover, previous work suggests that publics in both countries have weak knowledge about the benefits they receive from these policies. In this study, we focus on the case of Switzerland, and use two survey experiments to investigate whether increased visibility of the rebates increase citizens’ support for these instruments.