The welfare reality check: how policy-specific information influences public responsiveness

Figures & data

Table 1. Effect of information on preferences for further freedom of choice for welfare services.

	Control	N	Experiment	N	Difference
Primary schools	4,30	925	4.08	1061	0.22**
Hospitals	5,01	930	4.98	1059	0.03
Retirement homes	5,57	926	5.16	1058	0.41***
Homes for disabled	5,57	928	4.93	1059	0.64***

Notes: Mean, independent sample T-test. The dependent variable is a question where respondents are asked to state their opinion concerning the further increase or decrease of the possibility to choose private welfare service providers. ***p < .01, **p < .05, *p < .1

Table 2. Effects of information, left-right orientation and political awareness on attitudes to increase/decrease of possibilities to choose private providers.

	Primary schools				Hospitals				Retirement homes				Homes for disabled
	Model 1		Model 2		Model 1		Model 2		Model 1		Model 2		Model 1		Model 2
Constant	4.303	***	4.279	***	5.013	***	5.091	***	5.569	***	5.705	***	5.574	***	5.577	***
Information	−0.226	*	−0.281	**	−0.035		−0.068		−0.414	***	−0.435	***	−0.646	***	−0.672	***
Left 1			−2.020	***			−2.464	***			−2.624	***			−2.062	***
2			−1.372	***			−1.729	***			−1.694	***			−1.318	***
3			−0.795	***			−1.130	***			−1.151	***			−0.747	***
4			−0.111				−0.548	**			−0.700	***			−0.407	*
6			1.100	***			0.904	***			0.956	***			0.701	***
7			1.529	***			1.494	***			1.379	***			1.050	***
8			1.983	***			1.869	***			1.865	***			1.284	***
Right 9			2.599	***			2.206	***			2.249	***			2.079	***
Moderately interested			−0.199				−0.068				−0.104				0.065
Moderately uninterested			−0.346	*			0.188				0.112				0.100
Uninterested			0.511				0.523				−0.109				0.504
Adj. R^2	0.002		0.307		0.000		0.382		0.007		0.369		0.020		0.277
n	1986		1933		1989		1936		1984		1931		1987		1935

Notes: Model 1 and 2 for primary school, hospital, retirement homes, homes for disabled. OLS regression. Unstandardized b-values and R². Left-right orientation is a dummy variable, with value 5 (neither left nor right) as reference category. Political interest is a dummy variable, with the value 1 (very interested) as reference category. ***p < .01, **p < .05, *p < .1.

Table 3. Effects of information, left-right orientation and political awareness on attitudes to increase/decrease of possibilities to choose private providers for primary school, hospital, retirement homes, homes for disabled.

	Primary schools		Hospitals		Retirement homes		Homes for disabled
Constant	4.049	***	5.011	***	5.633	***	5.522	***
Information	0.125		0.085		−0.301		−0.568	*
Left (1)	−1.953	***	−2.424	***	−2.580	***	−2.065	***
2	−0.935	***	−1.255	***	−1.210	***	−0.839	***
3	−0.360		−0.857	***	−0.740	***	−0.352
4	0.196		−0.435		−0.601	*	−0.408
6	1.506	***	1.017	***	1.093	***	0.906	***
7	1.763	***	1.453	***	1.180	***	0.836	***
8	2.031	***	1.656	***	1.557	***	1.004	***
Right (9)	2.601	***	1.988	***	2.112	***	1.769	***
Moderately interested	−0.205	*	−0.077		−0.110		0.059
Moderately uninterested	−0.367	*	0.166		0.094		0.080
Uninterested	0.509		0.522		−0.098		0.528
Information*Left-Right (1)	−0.088		−0.068		−0.074		0.012
Information*Left-Right (2)	−0.793	*	−0.896	**	−0.909	**	−0.906	**
Information*Left-Right (3)	−0.803	*	−0.520		−0.794	*	−0.768	*
Information*Left-Right (4)	−0.547		−0.204		−0.177		0.018
Information*Left-Right (6)	−0.722		−0.201		−0.245		−0.373
Information*Left-Right (7)	−0.403		0.091		0.392		0.417
Information*Left-Right (8)	−0.054		0.415		0.596		0.538
Information*Left-Right (9)	−0.003		0.380		0.238		0.534
Adj. R^2	0.308		0.386		0.376		0.287
n	1933		1936		1931		1935

Notes: Interaction effects between left-right orientation and information. OLS regression. Unstandardized b-values and R². Left-right orientation is a dummy variable, with value 5 (neither left nor right) as reference category. Political interest is a dummy variable, with the value 1 (very interested) as reference category. ***p < .01. **p < .05. *p < .1.

Figure 1a–d. Interaction effects between left-right orientation and information. Predictive margins (reference category left-right = 5, results from table 3). A: Primary schools B: Hospitals C: Retirement homes D: Homes for disabled.