Homo Economicus or Homo Nationalicus? The Role of Nationalism and Economic Concerns in Views Toward Trade

Last registered on January 19, 2026

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Homo Economicus or Homo Nationalicus? The Role of Nationalism and Economic Concerns in Views Toward Trade

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0017039

Initial registration date

October 19, 2025

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

October 23, 2025, 7:02 AM EDT

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

Last updated

January 19, 2026, 11:02 AM EST

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

Locations

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name

Matteo F. Ferroni

Affiliation

University of Missouri

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2025-10-19

End date

2026-05-31

Keywords

Behavior, Other

Additional Keywords

Policy views, Trade, Nationalism, Economic concerns

JEL code(s)

A13, D71, D72, D91, F13, F16, H23, J38, J60, J68, L52, P16

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

This study examines how nationalism and economic concerns shape support for two forms of protectionism: tariffs and Buy American attitudes. Using a large online survey of U.S. residents, I measure respondents’ support for these policies and their willingness to pay for tariffs and for American-made products. Participants are randomly assigned to one of two priming treatments that emphasize either national identity or price consciousness. This design allows for causal identification of the effects of nationalism and economic concerns on policy support and for the examination of heterogeneous effects by political affiliation. In additional descriptive analyses, I explore how perceived costs and benefits, attitudes toward free trade, support for manufacturing, and background characteristics of respondents relate to support for these protectionist policies.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Ferroni, Matteo F.. 2026. "Homo Economicus or Homo Nationalicus? The Role of Nationalism and Economic Concerns in Views Toward Trade." AEA RCT Registry. January 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17039-1.1

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

I randomly assign respondents to one of two priming treatments (plus a control group) with the goal of priming their nationalism or their economic concerns.

Intervention Start Date

2025-10-20

Intervention End Date

2025-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The key outcomes are: i) support for tariffs (qualitatively and WTP); ii) support for Buy American (qualitatively and WTP).

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

For my WTP measures, I will elicit respondents' willingness to pay for 5%, 10%, 25%, 50%, and 100% more for having tariffs and to buy American-made products.
Besides looking at the treatment effect on each of the 5 levels, I will also create a variable capturing the threshold from which respondents are no longer willing to pay more. I will have two separate versions: i) from 0 to 100, reflecting their answer; ii) from 0 to 5, to avoid giving too much weight to extreme answers.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

I'll also explore the treatment effects on: i) nationalism; ii) economic concern; iii) support for manufacturing (and subsidies to it); iv) support for free trade.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

The questions on nationalism and economic concern, as shown in the attached survey questionnaire, are going to be aggregated in PCA indices.

Experimental Design

After answering questions on their background characteristics, respondents will be randomly assigned to two different priming treatments. The goal of the first is to increase their nationalism; the goal of the second is to make them more concerned about higher increases.
After the treatment, all respondents will answer the same questions, capturing the outcomes described above.

Experimental Design Details

Not available

Randomization Method

Randomization done by the survey (designed on Qualtrics)

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?