Why Are Relatively Poor People Not More Supportive of Redistribution? Evidence from a Randomized Survey Experiment across Ten Countries

Abstract

We test a key assumption underlying seminal theories about preferences for redistribution, which is that relatively poor people should be the most in favor of redistribution. We conduct a randomized survey experiment with over 30,000 participants across 10 countries, half of whom are informed of their position in the national income distribution. Contrary to prevailing wisdom, people who are told they are relatively poorer than they thought are less concerned about inequality and are not more supportive of redistribution. This finding is consistent with people using their own living standard as a “benchmark” for what they consider acceptable for others. (JEL D12, D31, H23, I31, I32)

(Mis-)perception of Inequality:measures, determinants, and consequences

“…Having a full distribution of self-perception of social position in a country, the authors can calculate the perceived Gini coefficient at the country level. However, this measure can be affected by the middle-class bias (Hoy and Mager 2019;Iacono and Ranaldi 2021) partly due to the influence of endogenous reference groups. If the rich underestimate their wealth and the poor overestimate it (e.g., Cruces et al, 2013;Gimpelson and Treisman, 2017), then this would create a peak around position 5 or 6 for the self-reported social position, which is selfevident in Choi (2019).…”

Information About Inequality of Opportunity Increases Downward Mobility Perceptions: A Population-Wide Randomized Survey Experiment

“…Recent research shows that in less democratic post-communist countries citizens acquire less information about inequality through state-controlled media channels and this practice has implications for population health ( Gugushvili and Reeves, 2021 ). In turn, existing evidence from randomized survey experiments from different country contexts indicates that information given to individuals about the levels of income inequality or their position in the socioeconomic hierarchy causally affects their redistribution preferences, beliefs on the determinants of success in life, perceptions of the gap between the rich and the poor, and willingness to defend the existing socioeconomic system ( Day and Fiske, 2017 ; Alesina et al, 2018 ; Hoy and Mager, 2021 ; Mijs and Hoy, 2021 ).…”

Quem paga pelo Estado de bem-estar? Preferências por redistribuição e percepções subjetivas sobre seus custos

“…Mas apesar da significância estatística, a magnitude do efeito encontrado é novamente estreita. Os demais não observam impacto relevante do tratamento (Engelhardt e Wagener, 2016;Kuziemko et al, 2015;Bublitz, 2017;Armingeon e Bürgisser, 2021;Ballard-Rosa et al, 2021) ou obtêm um resultado de sinal oposto ao esperado (Hoy e Mager, 2019).…”

“…Esse conjunto de evidências é misto e inconclusivo. No geral, o tratamento foi suficiente para mudar a preocupação do entrevistado em relação à desigualdade de renda, mas isso não se converteu em maior apoio à redistribuição (Kuziemko et al, 2015;Hvidberg, Kreiner e Stancheva, 2020;Hoy e Mager, 2019). Tal resultado se soma à frequente constatação da literatura de que a preferência é relativamente inelástica à provisão de informação (Hauser e Norton, 2017;Zilinsky, 2014;Kuklinski et al, 2003).…”

“…É racional que os mais ricos apoiem transferências se elas forem regressivas, da mesma forma que é coerente os mais pobres duvidarem das vantagens de uma redistribuição que falha em focalizar benefícios na base da sociedade. A aptidão da renda como boa preditora da preferência, portanto, fica condicionada a um gasto social efetivamente progressivo Cruces, Perez-Truglia e Tetaz, 2013;Cansunar, 2019;Kuziemko et al, 2015;Hoy e Mager, 2019;. Karadja, Mollerstrom e Sem, 2017;Bublitz, 2017, Engelhardt e Wagener, 2016Nair, 2018;Balcells, Fernández-Albertos e Kuo, 2015; Hvidberg, Kreiner e Stancheva, 2020; Fehr, Mollestrom e Perez-Truglia, 2019;Brown-Iannuzzi et al, 2015;Condon e Wichowsky, 2020).A hipótese testada por essa literatura é a de que percepções enviesadas sobre a autoestratificação podem comprometer a avaliação custo-benefício individual de políticas.…”