The Altruistic Rich? Inequality and Other-Regarding Preferences for Redistribution

Quarterly Journal of Political Science 11(4):385–439 (2016)

APSA 2014 Annual Meeting Paper

SUNY Buffalo Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2014-034

47 Pages Posted: 21 Aug 2014 Last revised: 15 Dec 2017

See all articles by Matthew Dimick

Matthew Dimick

University at Buffalo School of Law

David Rueda

University of Oxford

Daniel Stegmueller

University of Mannheim

Date Written: 2014

Abstract

What determines support among individuals for redistributive policies? Do individuals care about others when they assess the consequences of redistribution? Using data for the US from 1978 to 2010, we find that differences in redistribution preferences between the rich and the poor are high in some states and low in others. Surprisingly, this difference has a lot to do with the rich and very little to do with the poor. While support for redistribution decreases with income, the preferences of the rich are very sensitive to the level of macro-inequality, and the rich are more supportive of redistribution in unequal states than they are in more equal states. To explain this relationship, we propose a model of other-regarding preferences for redistribution, which we term "income-dependent altruism." In making these distinctions between the poor and the rich, the arguments in this paper challenge some influential approaches to the politics of inequality.

Suggested Citation

Dimick, Matthew and Rueda, David and Stegmueller, Daniel, The Altruistic Rich? Inequality and Other-Regarding Preferences for Redistribution (2014). Quarterly Journal of Political Science 11(4):385–439 (2016), APSA 2014 Annual Meeting Paper, SUNY Buffalo Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2014-034, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2453703 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2453703

Matthew Dimick (Contact Author)

University at Buffalo School of Law ( email )

618 John Lord O'Brian Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260-1100
United States
716-645-7968 (Phone)

David Rueda

University of Oxford ( email )

Mansfield Road
Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 4AU
United Kingdom

Daniel Stegmueller

University of Mannheim ( email )

Universitaetsbibliothek Mannheim
Zeitschriftenabteilung
Mannheim, 68131
Germany

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