Salient carbon dividends are not enough to generate widespread support for carbon pricing in Austria

Rene Schwaiger (), Julian Benda (), Esther Blanco (), Armando Holzknecht (), Juergen Huber and Michael Kirchler

Working Papers from Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck

Abstract: Revenue recycling through salient lump-sum dividends has been proposed as a mechanism to build public support for carbon pricing. Previous evidence for carbon tax and dividend roll-outs in Canada and Switzerland showed limited support for carbon pricing, attributed to low salience of the dividend payments to citizens. We provide the first evidence on support for carbon pricing during the roll-out and subsequent removal of a visible carbon dividend, Austria’s Klimabonus, which directly paid residents € 145-290. Even this visible dividend was insufficient to build broad support for carbon pricing, and information interventions did not significantly increase support. Willingness to drive less and political views are stronger predictors of support for carbon pricing than knowledge about the carbon tax or dividend. Overall, these findings contribute to an open debate about what, if anything, can build durable support for carbon pricing.

Keywords: carbon pricing; carbon dividend; climate policy support; information provision; policy knowledge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 87
Date: 2026-08
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