Unpacking Public Opposition to Meat Taxes: A Survey-Experiment in California

Thomas Douenne, Natalie Lee and Nicolas Treich

No 21504, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: Meat taxes are unpopular despite meat's environmental, health, and animal-welfare externalities. We study this opposition in a survey experiment with 3,299 Californians evaluating a meat-tax-and-dividend policy. Respondents watch an explanatory video and receive randomized information and framing treatments targeting economic beliefs (financial incidence, distributional effects, effectiveness) and non-economic considerations (freedom, identity). Opposition is widespread and often justified by freedom and fairness concerns. Information on tax progressivity increases support, whereas information on financial impact or effectiveness does not. Freedom framing has only marginal effects, but identity priming significantly increases opposition, revealing a gap between stated concerns and the factors shaping support.

JEL-codes: C83 D72 D91 H23 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05
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