Wealth inequality perception and wealth tax preferences in the UK

Last registered on July 13, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Wealth inequality perception and wealth tax preferences in the UK
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010698
Initial registration date
December 23, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
January 03, 2023, 5:21 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
July 13, 2023, 2:41 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Research Scholar Universidad Complutense de Madrid / Associate Fellow INET Oxford

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2022-12-23
End date
2024-06-30
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The trial consists on an online survey in which United Kingdom respondents from a representative sample are asked questions about their perception of wealth inequality in the UK. Then, some of them are randomly provided with some factual information about the current estimated values of wealth inequality in the UK. After that, both control and treated group respond to questions about their preferences for wealth taxation and about different possible schemes for such wealth taxation.

One objective of the study is to measure the possible bias or discrepancy in people's perception of wealth inequality; then, a second question we are interested in is whether people who are informed (treated group) about the current actual levels of wealth inequality correct that bias; finally, the main goal of the study will be to measure how that perception correction affects preferences for wealth taxation in general and/or for different types of wealth taxation schemes.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Palomino, Juan C.. 2023. "Wealth inequality perception and wealth tax preferences in the UK." AEA RCT Registry. July 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10698-1.1
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2022-12-23
Intervention End Date
2023-01-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
For treated and untreated, we are aiming to see the effect on: Preference for having wealth taxation, preference for different exemption thresholds in such taxation, preference for different types of assets taxed, difference in the implicit tax rate revealed by the respondents
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Correction of possible perception biases about wealth inequality (treated group); different perception biases for different demographic groups
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experimental design will be applied in an online survey distributed to a representative sample (using simple quotas for four dimensions: age groups, gender, nation (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) in the United Kingdom.

First step:
All respondents are asked questions about their perception of wealth inequality in the United Kingdom and about demographic characteristics (gender, marital status, etc.) and some economic circumstances (their broad own wealth assets, income). They will also answer to some questions about their perception of the government and of taxes in general prior to the treatment.

Second step:
Half of the respondents will be given information about wealth inequality in the United Kingdom (treated group) while the other half will not see that information. [Given the relatively big sample, we expect treatment/non treatment to naturally distribute equally in all broad demographics groups through simple randomisation.]

Third step:
Check information acquisition/bias correction through a second set of questions about wealth inequality posed "post-treatment".

Fourth step:
Investigate differences in wealth taxation preferences between treated and untreated group.
This differences in preferences will be refer to: overall wealth taxation, taxation to different wealth assets, exemption thresholds for taxation, implicit tax rates for wealth taxation, different earmarking of wealth taxation revenue.

Fifth step:
This differences in the effect will be cross-analysed for different subgroups of the population based on socio-demographic differences and on pre-treatment differences in perceptions.

Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by a computer when distributing the online survey.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
The treatment will be applied individually
Sample size: planned number of observations
3000 observations
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1500 observations treated; 1500 observations untreated
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Departmental Research Ethics Committee (DREC) - Department of Social Policy and Intervention - University of Oxford
IRB Approval Date
2022-11-04
IRB Approval Number
C1A_20_019

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials