Policy feedback and economic risk: the influence of privatization on social policy preferences

Abstract:

Through policy feedback mechanisms, public policies can shape individuals’ preferences for those policies. While research has focused on the direct link between policies and preferences, how policies alter individuals’ preferences through indirect means remains less explored. Broadly, we argue that how micro-level factors influence policy preferences is contingent on the policy context, and specifically we contend that how economic risk influences preferences is contingent on the policy institutions that privatize social protection responsibilities. Using healthcare policy as the empirical context, we show that the level of privatization in national healthcare systems will colour how the risk of unemployment affects preferences for government healthcare.