A New Survey Instrument to Assess Inequality Acceptability

24 Pages Posted: 26 Oct 2022

See all articles by Diego Santamaria

Diego Santamaria

Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC)

Luis Miller

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Paloma Ubeda

UNED

Laura Padilla Angulo

Universidad Loyola Andalucía

Abstract

Why is there general support for equality-enhancing policies in some social contexts, while in others, social inequalities seem to be widely regarded as acceptable? In the last sixty years, this research question has been raised hundreds of times across the social sciences. Here, we use a new survey-experimental design that may overcome some of the limitations of previous studies. Three sets of determinants of inequality acceptability are explored: individual socioeconomic status (SES), societal economic inequality, and the source or origin of inequality. The results of a survey experiment conducted in 2020 based on a large and heterogeneous sample confirm that inequalities are considered fairer by high-SES individuals and when they are due to performance. Although the effect of societal inequality on preferences is less robust, we find that in more unequal contexts, equal distributions are judged to be fairer.

Keywords: Inequality, redistribution, socioeconomic status, survey experiments

Suggested Citation

Santamaria, Diego and Miller, Luis and Ubeda, Paloma and Padilla Angulo, Laura, A New Survey Instrument to Assess Inequality Acceptability. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4258734 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4258734

Diego Santamaria

Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) ( email )

28006 Madrid
Spain

Luis Miller (Contact Author)

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) ( email )

Serrano, 117
Madrid, 28006
Spain

Paloma Ubeda

UNED ( email )

Senda del Rey 11
Madrid, Madrid 28040
Spain

Laura Padilla Angulo

Universidad Loyola Andalucía ( email )

Sevilla, Andalucía 41000
Spain

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.uloyola.es/

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