The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 Ten Months In:
Low Public Awareness and High (but Uneven) Expectations
By Katja Kleinberg
September 15, 2023
In August 2022, President Biden signed into law the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act (CHIPS Act). The Act provides $280 billion in federal spending directed at U.S. manufacturing, supply chains, and national security. According to the Biden administration, the CHIPS Act will boost American semiconductor research, development, and production through a wide range of subsidies and tax credits.
The legislation is touted by policymakers and economic expert as a historic investment in the American economy. We asked respondents how much they had heard about the CHIPS Act.
Only about one quarter of respondents (25.14%) claimed to have heard ‘some’ or ‘a great deal’ about the legislation. Older respondents (32.88%) and those with at least a college degree (31.73%) were significantly more likely to say they had heard about it than younger respondents and those who had not completed college. Men (35.19%) were significantly more likely to claim awareness some of the CHIPS Act than women (15.14%). Differences along party lines were smaller, with Democrats somewhat more likely to report having heard about the legislation (27.53%) than Republicans (21.73%).
One of the announced goals of the CHIPS Act is the revitalization of domestic manufacturing and the creation well-paying jobs for American workers. The legislation is also part of a broader agenda that newly elected president Joe Biden had outlined in February 2021: a reorientation of foreign economic policy to address the needs of America’s middle class. We asked respondents who they expected would be the main beneficiaries of the CHIPS Act.
A majority of respondents expected at least ‘some’ benefits for all of the groups we asked about: large companies (79.26%), small companies (54.9%), the middle class (56.75%), and the working class (52.11%). That said, respondents don’t expect benefits to be distributed evenly. Nearly half (44.91%) expect large companies to benefit ‘a great deal,’ compared to small companies (9.31%), the middle class (8.95%), or the working class (8.42%). And while there are some differences along party lines, both respondents who identify as Republicans (41.29%) and those who identify as Democrats (49.05%) see large companies as the main winners from the CHIPS Act.
Given that only a minority respondents claimed to have heard at least ‘some’ about the legislation, one may wonder how awareness of the CHIPS Act is reflected in expectations about who stands to gain from it. The differences are substantial: Those with at least some familiarity with the legislation were significantly more likely to expect each of the groups to benefit ‘a great deal.’
The CHIPS Act was passed into law ten months ago and implementation will take time. It is also likely to be uneven across states and regions. It will be interesting to see to what extent awareness of the CHIPS Act changes—along with assessments of its expected effects across the U.S. economy—once funds allocated in legislation materialize in projects at the local level, and in respondents’ lives.
Note: The survey included a nationally representative sample of 1,089 respondents. It was fielded between April 13 and April 17, 2023 by NORC at the University of Chicago, as part of their AmeriSpeak panel. Calculations reported above excluded volunteered “Don’t know” responses.
Katja Kleinberg is an associate professor of political science at Binghamton University, SUNY. She is co-principal investigator of the Foreign Policy in a Diverse Society project, housed in Temple University’s Public Policy Lab.
This research was undertaken as part of the Foreign Policy in a Diverse Society project (DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/QJR49), which is supported by funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York.