Do Religious Beliefs Explain Preferences for Income Redistribution? Experimental Evidence

Neustadt, Ilja

doi:10.1093/cesifo/ifr002

Cited by 21 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The Protestant Ethic associated the hoarding of money and the attitude that time is money, as a way of promoting a strong work ethic (Tang, 1992). The Protestant Ethic is a belief system that there is a world to come where the rewards and punishments of the next life will be based on the effort and industriousness exerted during the current life (Neustadt, 2011). The Protestant Ethic, which encourages hard work, thrift, and the earning of money as a sign of God's blessings, also proscribes the enjoyment of money that was earned as a result of the hard work that was exerted (Belk & Wallendorf, 1990).…”

Section: Miserlinessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hoarding Disorder: It’s More Than Just an Obsession - Implications for Financial Therapists and Planners

Canale¹,

Klontz²

2013

Journal of Financial Therapy

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Section: Miserlinessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hoarding Disorder: It’s More Than Just an Obsession - Implications for Financial Therapists and Planners

Canale¹,

Klontz²

2013

Journal of Financial Therapy

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“…Yet, there are several studies suggesting that the results derived from an experiment providing financial incentives do not differ significantly from those derived from an experiment without such incentives (see for example Mørkbak et al 2012;Broadbent 2012). Moreover, neither the comparable study by Neustadt (2011) for Switzerland nor validity checks performed in the context of the present study are able to identify significant distortions (for more detail see Pfarr 2013). Second, an experiment always captures the sentiment at a specific point of time.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 52%

“…A mean value choice = 0.35 is high compared to other DCEs (see Neustadt 2011;Becker 2006), giving rise to the expectation that the MRS and WTP values of interest can be estimated with sufficient precision. Only about 8 percent of respondents never chose the alternative, whereas the modal number of moving away from the status quo is three, with no difference between East and West Germans.…”

Section: Figure 2: Attitudes Towards the Welfare State For East And Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fong 2006). 8 With the exception of Neustadt and Zweifel (2010a;2010b), Neustadt (2011) andPfarr (2012;, there are no studies estimating the preferences for redistribution using a DCE. Pfarr finds that the average German citizen is willing to contribute about 12 € per month for an increase in the redistribution budget by one percentage point of GDP.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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You Can't Always Get What You Want - East and West Germans' Attitudes and Preferences Regarding the Welfare State

2013

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More than twenty years after the fall of the iron curtain, do citizens from former Communist countries still exhibit attitudes and preferences with regard to the welfare state and income redistribution that differ from those in the West? This paper seeks to answer this question for Germany after reunification using not only survey data on attitudes but also evidence on preferences from a discrete choice experiment, both based on a representative sample. In a first step, we revisit the empirical evidence, compare our results to those of Alesina and Fuchs-Schündeln (2007) and test whether convergence of attitudes has yet been achieved. In a second step, we apply an advanced method to investigate preferences for redistribution in terms of willingness to pay. This framework is more in line with standard public choice theory as individuals are forced to overcome trade-offs and are exposed to take their inherent budget constraint into account when voicing their opinion on redistribution. The results are quite mixed. While East Germans seem to desire a higher amount of redistribution than West Germans, they are not willing to contribute more through taxation. This finding has important implications for social policy in reunified Germany.

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“…With the exception of the studies of Neustadt and Zweifel (2010a;2010b) andNeustadt (2011), no study measuring the preferences for redistribution using a DCE exists. The authors underline the applicability of a DCE to elicit citizens' preferences.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Meltzer-Richard and Social Mobility Hypothesis: Revisiting the Income-Redistribution Nexus Using German Choice Data

Pfarr

2012

SSRN Journal

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Whereas the supply of redistribution is relatively easy to measure, the determinants of the demand for redistribution are controversially discussed in international literature. Economic theory typically models redistribution as the result of a voting mechanism; this is only inadequately reflected by the existing empirical studies. In general, these studies use survey data and are therefore not able to predict individuals' decision making under the restriction of a budget constraint. This study aims at eliciting preferences for redistribution in Germany with the help of a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE), based on a representative sample of 1,538 individuals. A DCE solves the aforementioned problems by forcing individuals to overcome trade-offs. The results show a strong preference for redistribution that overshoots the current level. Considering socio-demographic characteristics, the results contradict the Meltzer-Richard-Model and the POUM hypothesis, while Piketty's learning model is strongly supported by the data.Keywords: redistributive preferences, social mobility, median voter. JEL: C93, D31, D63, H23.©2012 by Christian Pfarr. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, publication and reprint in the form of a different publication, whether printed or produced electronically, in whole or in part, is permitted only with the explicit written authorization of the author. MotivationIn Germany, as in most industrialized countries, income inequality has steadily increased (see OECD 2011a, 2011b). The government tries to affect the pre-tax income distribution by collecting taxes and granting monetary transfers. By doing so, income inequality between pre-tax and net incomes is reduced by about 40 % on average in Germany as measured by the Ginicoefficient (see Pfarr 2013, p. 3, SVR 2011. This strong governmental involvement calls for a detailed analysis of redistributive policies. Whereas the supply of redistribution is relatively easy to measure, the determinants of the demand for redistribution are controversially discussed in international literature. According to Alesina and Glaeser (2004), most studies cover economic, institutional or behavioral factors. This study concentrates on the economic factors encompassing the traditional Meltzer-Richard hypothesis and the social mobility hypothesis.In economic theory, redistribution is usually interpreted as the result of a voting mechanism.Individuals express their demand for redistribution in line with their preferences, and political parties act as the supplier thereof. Most of the existing literature concentrating on the determinants for individuals' redistributive preferences is not able to differentiate between these two sides. Moreover, as these studies use survey data, they cannot predict individuals' decision making under the restrictions of their budget constraint.The contribution of this study is twofold. First, the paper aims at eliciting preferences for redistribution in Germany with the help of a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE), based on a represent...

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Do Religious Beliefs Explain Preferences for Income Redistribution? Experimental Evidence

Cited by 21 publications

References 44 publications

Hoarding Disorder: It’s More Than Just an Obsession - Implications for Financial Therapists and Planners

Hoarding Disorder: It’s More Than Just an Obsession - Implications for Financial Therapists and Planners

You Can't Always Get What You Want - East and West Germans' Attitudes and Preferences Regarding the Welfare State

Meltzer-Richard and Social Mobility Hypothesis: Revisiting the Income-Redistribution Nexus Using German Choice Data

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