TAXES AND EXPENDITURES IN THE U.S.: PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS AND INCIDENCE ANALYSIS COMPARED

The usefulness of surveys for eliciting fiscal opinions of voters is investigated. Using data from the U.S. Advisory Commission in Intergovernmental Relations annual surveys of attitude toward government and taxes, the survey responses are related to economic and political factors and the survey results compared to those predicted by incidence analysis. The results from this analysis and a review of previous studies of this type suggest that there is often no consistent economic foundation for answers to fiscal survey questions. It also appears that some standard survey questions are too general to produce precise estimates of the factors influencing responses.