Influence of individual income and country-level inequality on values about distributive justice
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- March 20, 2019
- Creator
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Loeber, Thomas
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Political Science
- Abstract
- This paper explores how values about distributive justice vary with individual income and country-level inequality. The most prominent model of this relationship, the Meltzer-Richard model, predicts that higher inequality should make the rich more averse and the poor more supportive of redistribution. However, most empirical studies have found the opposite pattern. I try to adjudicate between two prominent explanations in the literature, altruism versus inequality-induced fear of crime of rich individuals. Since the latter hypothesis postulates that the rich only support redistribution for instrumental reasons, we should find a different result if we ask them more abstract questions about distributive justice. Using data from the International Social Survey Program, I investigate this question employing multilevel modeling. Because I find the same pattern than for the more instrumental questions about redistribution, I conclude that altruism is an important factor driving preferences for redistribution.
- Date of publication
- August 2016
- Keyword
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Advisor
- Stimson, James
- Stephens, John
- Ballard-Rosa, Cameron
- Degree
- Master of Arts
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
- Graduation year
- 2016
- Language
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