Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/325004 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 12013
Publisher: 
CESifo GmbH, Munich
Abstract: 
This paper investigates how raising awareness of public debt sustainability affects individual attitudes toward debt reduction and fiscal policy preferences. Using a survey experiment on a representative sample of the Italian population, we randomly assign objective information about government debt to citizens, who become more sensitive to the risks of tax increases, spending cuts, and imbalances for future generations. We find no effect on the perception of debt reduction as an urgent policy priority. While remaining highly averse to any tax increase, treated respondents support spending cuts (but not in education and health care) as a policy to reduce the debt burden. We also show that subjects with distorted beliefs about government debt are no more responsive to the information treatment than subjects with correct beliefs, shedding light on the challenges of building a voting majority for debt-stabilizing policies.
Subjects: 
public debt
fiscal policies
beliefs
information
JEL: 
H63
H31
D83
Document Type: 
Working Paper
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.