IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/erc/cypepr/v11y2017i1p41-68.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Preferences for Redistribution in Cyprus

Author

Listed:
  • Andros Kourtellos

    (Department of Economics, University of Cyprus)

  • Kyriakos Petrou

    (Department of Economics, University of Cyprus)

Abstract

This paper investigates the determinants of the preferences of redistribution in Cyprus using two complementary surveys, the European Social Survey and the World Values Survey. We find that current individual income and perceptions about fairness play a major role in determining the preferences for redistribution in Cyprus even when we account for model uncertainty. Both income and perceptions about fairness are negatively associated with demand for redistribution. From the perspective of policy evaluation our results can have important consequences on government size, inequality, intergenerational mobility, and even long-run growth in Cyprus. The substantial reductions in individual income and perceptions about fairness during the recent economic crisis in Cyprus are expected to generate a higher demand for redistribution. Thus, policy makers will face the challenge to revise the mix of progressive and regressive taxation in Cyprus in the coming years in order to reduce the mismatch between preferences and actual policy outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Andros Kourtellos & Kyriakos Petrou, 2017. "Preferences for Redistribution in Cyprus," Cyprus Economic Policy Review, University of Cyprus, Economics Research Centre, vol. 11(1), pages 41-68, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:erc:cypepr:v:11:y:2017:i:1:p:41-68
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ucy.ac.cy/erc/documents/Kourtellos_and_Petrou_41-68.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elvire Guillaud, 2013. "Preferences for redistribution: an empirical analysis over 33 countries," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(1), pages 57-78, March.
    2. Roland Benabou & Efe A. Ok, 2001. "Social Mobility and the Demand for Redistribution: The Poum Hypothesis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 447-487.
    3. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano, 2010. "The power of the family," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 93-125, June.
    4. Alberto Alesina & George-Marios Angeletos, 2005. "Fairness and Redistribution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 960-980, September.
    5. Bjørnskov, Christian & Dreher, Axel & Fischer, Justina A.V. & Schnellenbach, Jan & Gehring, Kai, 2013. "Inequality and happiness: When perceived social mobility and economic reality do not match," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 75-92.
    6. Alesina, Alberto & La Ferrara, Eliana, 2005. "Preferences for redistribution in the land of opportunities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(5-6), pages 897-931, June.
    7. Alberto Alesina & Nicola Fuchs-Schundeln, 2005. "Good bye Lenin (or not?): The effect of Communism on people's preferences," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2076, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    8. Scheve, Kenneth & Stasavage, David, 2006. "Religion and Preferences for Social Insurance," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 1(3), pages 255-286, July.
    9. Meltzer, Allan H & Richard, Scott F, 1981. "A Rational Theory of the Size of Government," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 914-927, October.
    10. Paola Giuliano & Antonio Spilimbergo, 2014. "Growing up in a Recession," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 787-817.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joan Costa-Font & Frank Cowell, 2015. "Social Identity And Redistributive Preferences: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 357-374, April.
    2. Kourtellos, Andros & Petrou, Kyriakos, 2022. "The role of social interactions in preferences for redistribution," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 716-737.
    3. Fabio Sabatini & Marco Ventura & Eiji Yamamura & Luca Zamparelli, 2020. "Fairness and the Unselfish Demand for Redistribution by Taxpayers and Welfare Recipients," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(3), pages 971-988, January.
    4. Andrea Fazio & Tommaso Reggiani, 2022. "Minimum wage and tolerance for inequality," MUNI ECON Working Papers 2022-07, Masaryk University, revised Feb 2023.
    5. Andreoli, Francesco & Olivera, Javier, 2020. "Preferences for redistribution and exposure to tax-benefit schemes in Europe," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Andreas Georgiadis & Alan Manning, 2012. "Spend it like Beckham? Inequality and redistribution in the UK, 1983–2004," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 537-563, June.
    7. Roth, Christopher & Wohlfart, Johannes, 2018. "Experienced inequality and preferences for redistribution," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 251-262.
    8. Ekaterina Borisova & Andrei Govorun & Denis Ivanov, 2016. "Bridging or Bonding? Preferences for Redistribution and Social Capital in Russia," Working Papers 05/2016, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, revised Nov 2016.
    9. Javier Olivera, 2015. "Preferences for redistribution in Europe," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-18, December.
    10. Elvire Guillaud, 2013. "Preferences for redistribution: an empirical analysis over 33 countries," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(1), pages 57-78, March.
    11. Kuhn, Andreas, 2011. "In the eye of the beholder: Subjective inequality measures and individuals' assessment of market justice," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 625-641.
    12. Monica Bozzano & Simona Scabrosetti, 2024. "What Drives Gender Gaps in Preferences for Redistribution? New Evidence from the European Social Survey," Working papers 118, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    13. Laméris, Maite D. & Garretsen, Harry & Jong-A-Pin, Richard, 2020. "Political ideology and the intragenerational prospect of upward mobility," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    14. Lisa Wilder, 2013. "Generational Differences in Attitude toward Income Redistribution in the Baltic States: A Cohort Analysis," Research in Economics and Business: Central and Eastern Europe, Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology, vol. 5(2).
    15. Elvire Guillaud, 2008. "Preferences for redistribution: a European comparative analysis," Working Papers halshs-00586260, HAL.
    16. Kuhn, Andreas, 2009. "In the Eye of the Beholder: Subjective Inequality Measures and the Demand for Redistribution," IZA Discussion Papers 4360, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Javier Olivera, 2014. "Preferences for redistribution after the economic crisis," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 3(3), pages 137-145.
    18. Zhou Xun, 2015. "Preference for Redistribution and Inequality Perception in China: Evidence from the CGSS 2006," AMSE Working Papers 1518, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    19. Neher, Frank, 2012. "Preferences for redistribution around the world," Discussion Papers 2012/2, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    20. Pfarr Christian & Ulrich Volker, 2011. "Discrete-Choice-Experimente zur Ermittlung der Präferenzen für Umverteilung," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 62(3), pages 232-262, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:erc:cypepr:v:11:y:2017:i:1:p:41-68. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Vasiliki Bozani (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/erucycy.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.