Carbon Tax

碳税实施的最大障碍是缺乏公众支持（Deroubaix和lsamuque, 2006；Jakobsson等人，2000；Steg等人，2006）。一小部分研究表明，人们对碳税的评估受到框架等行为偏见的影响（Baranzini和Carattini, 2017； Hardisty等人，2019）。RQ1：除了框架效应，还有哪些行为偏差影响人们对碳税的评价？研究问题1将通过进行在线随机对照实验来解决。因变量将是人们愿意支付（WTP）碳税的定量度量。参与者将被随机分配到对照组的几个治疗条件之一。参与者将看到一个假设的政策情景，该情景将评估他们的wtp碳税；他们可以选择拒绝征税，也可以从预先确定的清单中选择一个WTP金额。治疗组在回答这个问题之前会收到一条信息，而对照组则不会。治疗组的参与者将收到几条旨在利用偏见的信息中的一条。对文献的深入研究将决定采用哪种偏见。将采用普通最小二乘回归来估计平均治疗效果，并确定组间WTP是否存在显著差异。然后，我将测试这些消息是否会根据接收消息的人产生不同的结果。一项优先文献综述表明，气候变化信念和政治信任与对环境政策的支持相关（Fairbrother, et al. 2019）。收入与WTP碳税相关（Kotchen, et al. 2017）。这些变量将作为交互项包括在回归中，并将辨别哪些信息最适合公众交流，并揭示信息的任何无意的负面后果。问：如果个人和企业共同承担缴纳碳税的责任，这是否会影响人们缴纳碳税的意愿？公平理论认为，如果一种行为的成本在整个社会中没有公平分配，那么个人参与这种行为的可能性就会降低（Fehr & Fischbacher, 2004）。Hardisty等人（2019）证明，人们更愿意对化石燃料生产商征税，而不是对个人征税。然而，如果两个群体共同承担支付碳税的责任，人们的WTP是否会发生变化，目前尚不清楚。文章2将试图确定人们的WTP碳税是否受到化石燃料生产商也被征税的知识的影响。一个在线随机对照实验将被利用，并将模拟一个购买场景。这个实验将测试当人们意识到公司正在被征税时，他们的swtp是否会减少，或者当他们感到支付碳税的责任是共同的时，它是否会增加。RQ3：上述消息在现场测试后是否有效？英国政府最近在交通污染严重的地区设立了“清洁空气区”。污染最严重的车辆进入这些区域，每天将被收取高达100英镑的费用。根据论文1和2，有可能设计一个与此政策相结合的现场实验。文章1和2将揭示最显著影响人们WTP碳税的信息类型。论文3将试图确定messagessure在实地测试时是否有效。该实验将涉及操纵随罚款而来的信件上的信息类型。将使用普通最小二乘回归来测试这些信息是否具有支付罚款所需的时间和罚款后进入清洁空气区的短途旅行次数的影响。

The biggest barrier to carbon tax implementation islack of public support (Deroubaix and Lévèque, 2006;Jakobsson,et al. 2000; Steg, et al. 2006). A small body of researchhas demonstrated that people's evaluations of carbontaxesare influenced by behavioural biases such as framing(Baranzini and Carattini, 2017; Hardisty, et al.2019).RQ1:In addition to the framing effect, what otherbehavioural biases influence people's evaluationsof carbon tax?Research question 1 will be addressed by conductingan online randomised controlled experiment. The dependentvariable will be a quantitative measure of people'swillingness to pay (WTP) carbon tax. Participantswill be randomlyallocated into one of several treatment conditionsor the control group. Participants will be presentedwith ahypothetical policy scenario which will assess theirWTP carbon tax; they will have the option to rejectthe tax orchoose a WTP amount from a predetermined list. Thosein the treatment group will receive a message priortoanswering this question and those in the control groupwill not. Participants in the treatment group willreceive one ofseveral messages designed to leverage a bias. An in-depthreview of the literature will determine which biasestopursue. Ordinary least squares regression will beemployed to estimate the average treatment effectand establishwhether there is a significant difference in WTP betweenthe groups.I will then test whether these messages yield differentresults depending on who receives the message. Ana-prioriliterature review shows that climate-change beliefsand political trust are correlated with support forenvironmentalpolicies (Fairbrother, et al. 2019). Income is correlatedwith WTP carbon tax (Kotchen, et al. 2017). Thesevariableswill be included as interaction terms in the regressionsand will discern which messages are most appropriateforpublic communication and reveal any unintentionalnegative consequences of the messages.RQ2:If the responsibility of paying carbon tax isshared between individuals and corporations willthis influencepeople's willingness to pay carbon tax?Equity theory suggests that if the costs of a behaviourare not fairly distributed throughout society thisreduces thelikelihood of an individual engaging in that behaviour(Fehr & Fischbacher, 2004). Hardisty, et al. (2019)demonstratethat people would prefer to tax fossil-fuel producersas opposed to individuals. However, it is not clearwhetherpeople's WTP would change if the responsibility ofpaying carbon tax were to be shared between bothgroups. Essay2 will seek to determine whether people's WTP carbontax is influenced by the knowledge that fossil-fuelproducersare also being taxed. An online randomised controlledexperiment will be utilised and will mimic a purchasingscenario. The experiment will test whether people'sWTP will decrease once they realise corporationsare beingtaxed or whether it will increase when they are madeto feel that the responsibility of paying carbontax is shared.RQ3:Will the efficacy of the aforementioned messagessurvive when tested in the field?The UK government recently introduced "Clean Air Zones"in areas which are deemed to be toxic from transportemissions. Drivers of the most polluting vehicleswill be charged up to £100 per day to enter thesezones. There isthe potential to design a field experiment in conjunctionwith this policy that is informed by essays 1 and2. Essays 1and 2 will shed light on the types of messages thatmost significantly impact people's WTP carbon tax.Essay 3 wouldseek to determine whether the efficacy of messagessurvives when tested in the field. The experimentwould involvemanipulating the type of message on the letter thataccompanies the fine. Ordinary least squares regressionwouldbe used to test whether these messages have an impacton time taken to pay the fine and the number of excursionsinto the clean air zone post fine.