Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T04:59:35.876Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Do knowledge gains from public information campaigns persist over time? Results from a survey experiment on the Norwegian pension reform*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2015

HENNING FINSERAAS ,
NIKLAS JAKOBSSON  and
MIKAEL SVENSSON
HENNING FINSERAAS
Affiliation:
Norwegian Social Research (NOVA), Norway Institute for Social Research, Norway
NIKLAS JAKOBSSON
Affiliation:
Norwegian Social Research (NOVA), Norway Karlstad Business School, Karlstad University, Sweden (e-mail: [email protected])
MIKAEL SVENSSON
Affiliation:
Karlstad Business School, Karlstad University, Sweden Department of Economics, Örebro University, Sweden
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Government authorities use resources on information campaigns in order to inform citizens about relevant policy changes. The motivation is usually that individuals sometimes are ill-informed about the public policies relevant for their choices. In a survey experiment where the treatment group was provided with public information material on the social security system, we assess the short- and medium-term knowledge effects. We show that the short run effects of the information on knowledge disappear completely within 4 months. The findings illustrate the limits of public information campaigns to improve knowledge about relevant policy reforms.

Keywords

H30J26Campaigninformationknowledgepublic
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Pension Economics & Finance , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 108 - 117
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The research reported in this paper was supported by a grant from the Research Council of Norway (project 210446).

References

Boeri, T. and Tabellini, G. (2012) Does information increase political support for pension reform? Public Choice, 150(1–2): 327–362. doi: 10.1007/s11127-010-9706-6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chan, S. and Stevens, A. H. (2008) What you don't know can't help you: pension knowledge and retirement decision-making. Review of Economics and Statistics, 90(2): 253–266. doi: 10.1162/rest.90.2.253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chetty, R. and Saez, E. (2013) Teaching the tax code: earnings responses to an experiment with EITC recipients. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 5(1): 1–31. doi: 10.1257/app.5.1.1.Google Scholar
Chetty, R., Looney, A., and Kroft, K. (2009) Salience and taxation: theory and evidence. American Economic Review, 99(4): 1145–1177. doi: 10.1257/aer.99.4.1145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downs, A. (1957) An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper.Google Scholar
Finseraas, H. and Jakobsson, N. (2014a) Does information about the pension system affect knowledge and retirement plans? Evidence from a survey experiment. Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, 13(3): 250–271. doi: 10.1017/S1474747213000310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finseraas, H. and Jakobsson, N. (2014b) Does a simple information intervention change the perception of a reform? Applied Economics Letters, 21(18): 1266–1268. doi: 10.1080/13504851.2014.922660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, G. T. and Gordon, C. S. (2003) Driving less for better air: impacts of a public information campaign. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 22(1): 45–63. doi: 10.1002/pam.10095.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyman, H. H. and Sheatsley, P. B. (1947) Some reasons why information campaigns fail. Public Opinion Quarterly, 11(3): 412–423. doi: 10.1093/poq/11.3.412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mastrobuoni, G. (2011) The role of information for retirement behavior: evidence based on the stepwise introduction of the Social Security Statement. Journal of Public Economics, 95(7–8): 913–925. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2011.01.003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubin, D. C. and Wenzel, A. E. (1996) One hundred years of forgetting: a quantitative description of retention. Psychological Review, 103(4): 734–760. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.103.4.734.CrossRefGoogle Scholar