Information effects in public spending preferences: Evidence from survey experiment in Poland

Abstract

We investigate whether the provision of information about the structure of public spending influences the public’s preferences in this regard. Using experimental data from a survey of 1800 Polish citizens, we uncover large misperceptions about the allocation of public spending. Respondents consistently underestimate the share of spending allocated to pensions, while overestimating the share allocated to environmental protection and public administration. However, when informed about the real structure of public spending, citizens express substantially different preferences for spending cuts or increases in some areas. The differences are particularly pronounced in those categories where beliefs about the size of spending are most distorted, with one exception — the treatment has minimal effect on the strong opposition to spending on public administration. In addition, we show that the provision of information improves the initially low assessment of government efficiency.