Ambivalence About International Trade in Open- and Closed-ended Survey Responses

Arturo Chang, Thomas Ferguson, Jacob Rothschild and Benjamin Page
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Arturo Chang: University of Toronto
Thomas Ferguson: Institute for New Economic Thinking
Jacob Rothschild: Reality Check
Benjamin Page: Northwestern University

No inetwp162, Working Papers Series from Institute for New Economic Thinking

Abstract: Spontaneous, open-ended survey responses can sometimes better reveal what is actually on people`s minds than small sets of forced-choice, closed questions. Our analysis of closed questions and trade-related open-ended responses to 2016 ANES `likes` and `dislikes` prompts indicate that Americans held considerably more complex, more ambivalent, and – in many cases – more negative views of international trade than has been apparent in studies that focus only on closed-ended responses. This paper suggests that contrast between open- and closed-question data may help explain why the effectiveness of Donald Trump`s appeals to trade resentments surprised many observers.

Keywords: Free Trade; Public Opinion; international trade; Donald Trump; opinion surveys, political economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C83 F10 F13 F59 F68 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2021-09-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int, nep-pke and nep-pol
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:thk:wpaper:inetwp162

DOI: 10.36687/inetwp162

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