“Expert Opinions and Negative Externalities Do Not Decrease Support for Anti-Price Gouging Policies”, 2023-09-20 ():
During disasters, citizens call for “anti-price gouging” policies. However, majorities of economists oppose such policies. For democracy to function, citizens should be responsive to policy-relevant information—especially from experts.
What impact does exposure to the potential negative externalities have on public support for anti-price gouging policies? We hypothesize that if the public were exposed to such information, they would be less supportive of anti-gouging policies.
We employ two survey experiments: one administered in Florida (n = 2,085), a state prone to hurricane activity, and the second in the United States (n = 2,023) at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both show that the public overwhelmingly supports anti-price gouging policies, regardless of exposure to information about negative externalities, even when it comes from experts.