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The Rise of Merit-based Inequality Acceptance After Exposure to Competition: Experimental Evidence among Chinese University Students

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  • Jacqueline Chen Chen

    (South China Agricultural University)

  • Tony Tam

    (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

  • Yen-sheng Chiang

    (Academia Sinica)

Abstract

This laboratory study examines an individual’s acceptance of distributional inequality after exposure to competition and the role of competitive intensity in this relationship among young adults in mainland China. We randomly assigned participants to tournaments with different levels of prize spread and winning selectivity, thereby engendering different levels of competitive intensity. Moreover, the lab experiment measured the participants’ preference for inequality in the distribution of tournament awards–what we call merit-based inequality acceptance. We obtained three main results. (1) Exposure to competition increases the level of inequality acceptance, and the effect of such increase tends to be great among strong performers in a tournament. (2) Exposure to competition with large prizes is positively associated with high level of inequality acceptance, whereas the relationship of winning selectivity to inequality acceptance has an inverted U shape. (3) The main source of inequality acceptance is the difference in the payoffs to strong and poor performers in a tournament. Results suggest that increasing competition intensity for economic rewards may have the unintended consequence of enhancing merit-based inequality acceptance among young Chinese university students.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacqueline Chen Chen & Tony Tam & Yen-sheng Chiang, 2019. "The Rise of Merit-based Inequality Acceptance After Exposure to Competition: Experimental Evidence among Chinese University Students," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 707-728, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:144:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-018-2011-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-018-2011-3
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