Determinants of Attitudes about Economic Policy Actions 2011

The determinants of attitudes to social and economic policy issues among the population are judged very differently in the literature. On the one hand, the attitudes are attributed to self-interest, but more recent studies in particular describe the political orientation as formative. In this study, WIFO investigates the reasons for the acceptance of social and economic policy measures in Austria on the basis of a representative survey. Both the state of knowledge about the economy and the (subjective) expectations about the consequences of the measures are taken into account. The aim of this study is to examine the determinants of attitudes towards social and economic policy measures in the Austrian public. Although such questions are relevant for fundamental social and economic concepts and theories as well as for (real) political discourse, it is only in recent years that academic research has become interested in them. The (strongly) increasing interest in recent years can be explained by the fact that social and economic policy measures are increasingly the subject of public and media discourse, and that the relevant decision-making bodies are under increasing pressure to design their measures in accordance with the "will" of the public or the "majority". Since the acceptance of measures in the population can therefore sometimes determine whether and how a certain measure is implemented, it is naturally of considerable interest to the decision-making bodies how different determinants influence the formation of public opinion. Against the backdrop of an increasing proportion of "voters of change", this is especially true for political parties that want to maximize their voter potential and align their social and economic policies accordingly.