Events

Prof. Maggie Chen
Professor of Economics and International Affairs
George Washington University

We investigate the role of evidence-based information in shaping individuals’ preferences for economic policies, by designing and administering a series of survey experiments that contain brief randomized information treatments. Each information treatment provides a concise summary of economics research findings on the extent to which openness to trade can explain labor market outcomes and prices. We examine whether the information treatments exert causal effects on the preferences subsequently expressed over policy instruments including trade policy. Across four annual survey rounds from 2018-2021 consisting of stratified samples of the general population, we find that the information treatment highlighting adverse labor market consequences of trade significantly raises respondents’ propensity to select limits on imports as a most preferred policy. Strikingly, information stressing job or price benefits of trade also induces protectionist policy choices. Our exploration of underlying mechanisms shows that the treatment effects are not driven by economic self-interest or lack of persuasiveness, but instead act by provoking priors held by respondents over jobs and China and eliciting loss-averse behavior.

This is a joint seminar organized by HKU, CUHK, City U, HKUST and Lingnan U.

Please contact Xiameng PAN at xmpan@connect.hku.hk for registration.