Back to History Current Version

Can the court bridge the gap? Public perception of economic vs. generational inequality in climate change mitigation policies.

Last registered on July 19, 2022
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Economic vs. Generational inequality: An experimental survey experiment of intra- and intergenerational cleavages in support for climate change mitigation policies
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009745
Initial registration date
July 14, 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
July 19, 2022, 4:30 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Germany
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Nanna Lauritz Schönhage
Affiliation
Universität Konstanz
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Luna Bellani
PI Affiliation
Universität Konstanz
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Gabriele Spilker
PI Affiliation
Universität Konstanz
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Theresa Wieland
PI Affiliation
Universität Konstanz
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-09-01
End date
2022-10-31
Keywords
Behavior, Electoral, Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
inequality, perceptions, climate change, carbon trading
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We examine this trade-off between the immediate inequality
citizens face from climate mitigation policies (in terms of carbon trading) vs. the
long-term generational inequalities future generations will face. We assess this trade-
off using a between-subjects survey experiment, fielded among German citizens.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bellani, Luna et al. 2022. "Economic vs. Generational inequality: An experimental survey experiment of intra- and intergenerational cleavages in support for climate change mitigation policies." AEA RCT Registry. July 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9745-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Between-subjects survey experiment with vignettes, in which respondents are primed to consider economic vs. generational inequality concerns relating to climate change mitigation policies.
Intervention Start Date
2022-09-01
Intervention End Date
2022-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
After the survey experiment, respondents are first asked: ”Do you support such a carbon taxation
policy?”. This is on a Likert-scale from 1 (”Do not agree at all”) to 5 (”Fully agree”). In order
to check whether respondents’ disagreement with the policy might be due to it not aiding enough
in climate change mitigation, we additionally ask respondents: ”Do you think the suggested CO2
taxation is:” with the answer options ”Too high”, ”exactly right”, ”too low”, and lastly ”Don’t
know”
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We implemented a 2*4 between-subject experiment research design. Each
group of respondents was shown a vignette consisting of three main parts: 1) an introduction text about a current climate change mitigation policy in Germany, 2) a randomisation into an elite-cue treatment group (vs. control group with no extra information), 3) a randomisation into one of 4 treatment groups (3 inequality treatment groups and one control group).
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomisation by computer.
Randomization Unit
Randomization at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Estimated to be 6000 individuals.
Sample size: planned number of observations
6000 individuals.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
6000 individuals.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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

Request Information
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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

Request Information

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