Does health-risk information increase the acceptability of a meat tax and meat free days? Experimental evidence from three European countries

Abstract

This paper examines how health-risk information related to meat consumption affects individual acceptability of a meat tax and mandatory meat-free days in canteens. Analyses draw on a representative survey including a randomised provision of health-risk information to approximately 2,000 individuals in France, Italy, and Latvia. Findings of multivariate analyses do not provide convincing evidence that the health-risk information enhances the acceptability of meat taxes and meat-free days. This finding is robust to a variety of robustness checks. Explorative heterogeneity analyses provide some suggestive evidence that providing health-risk information increases the acceptability of the policies for certain subgroups, but only in specific countries. Correlational results suggest that the acceptability of a meat tax and meat-free days is generally higher if individuals consider them to be less expensive, more effective, and fairer. Finally, the findings provide some limited evidence that acceptability of these policies is lower for individuals who are vulnerable to food insecurity.