 Do the poor want to be regulated? Public opinion surveys on regulation in the United States, 1981–2002Public Choice, 2019, vol. 180, issue 1, No 3, 27-42 Abstract: Abstract Recent research has demonstrated that public regulation of private economic activity often has regressive effects. Despite those effects, poorer Americans show strong support for a variety of regulations in public opinion surveys. I use the database of survey questions from 1981 to 2002, assembled by Martin Gilens, to identify 85 questions that deal with economic regulation. Poorer Americans support regulation on most issues, and they often favor regulatory intervention more than Americans at the median or upper income levels. I also use similar questions from surveys of economists to suggest the possibility of rational irrationality on the part of low-income Americans when they disagree with economists. Keywords: Regulation; Regressive effects; Rational irrationality; Public opinion (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:180:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s11127-018-0508-6 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1007/s11127-018-0508-6 Access Statistics for this article Public Choice is currently edited by WIlliam F. Shughart II More articles in Public Choice from Springer |
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