IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/canjec/v51y2018i4p1386-1418.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Group income and individual preferences for redistribution

Author

Listed:
  • Jeff Quattrociocchi

Abstract

This paper empirically examines the relationship between group income and an individual's preferences for redistribution. First, I develop a theoretical framework where an individual's identity is strengthened by the status of their group. Then, utilizing data from the US General Social Survey, I find evidence that the average incomes of one's ethnic and religious groups are negatively correlated with one's preferences for redistribution. Controlling for household income and a number of other individual‐level characteristics and additional controls, I find that a standard deviation increase in the average income of one's social groups correlates to a weakening of an individual's preferences for redistribution by 7% to 8%. This result is robust to the inclusion of rich controls and alternate measures of group status as well as a number of robustness checks, such as sample restrictions and the use of additional data. Revenu du groupe et préférences d’un individu pour la redistribution. Ce mémoire examine la relation entre le revenu du groupe et les préférences de l’individu membre du groupe pour la redistribution. D’abord, on développe un cadre théorique où le sens de l’identité de l’individu est renforcé par le statut du groupe. Et puis, à l’aide de données du General Social Survey des États‐Unis, on montre que les revenus moyens des groupes ethniques et religieux auquel appartient l’individu sont co‐reliés négativement avec les préférences de l’individu pour la redistribution. En contrôlant pour le revenu du ménage, et pour un nombre d’autres caractéristiques au niveau individuel et d’autres variables, on montre qu’un accroissement d’un écart‐type dans le revenu moyen du groupe social auquel appartient l’individu est co‐relié à une réduction des préférences de l’individu pour le redistribution de l’ordre de 7 % à 8 %. Ce résultat est robuste en ce sens qu’il persiste quand on impose des contrôles de standardisation importants, quand on utilise des mesures de rechange du statut du groupe, ainsi que quand on impose des tests de robustesse tels que des restrictions sur la nature de l’échantillon et l’utilisation de données additionnelles.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeff Quattrociocchi, 2018. "Group income and individual preferences for redistribution," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(4), pages 1386-1418, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:canjec:v:51:y:2018:i:4:p:1386-1418
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12358
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/caje.12358
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/caje.12358?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bloch, Francis & Genicot, Garance & Ray, Debraj, 2008. "Informal insurance in social networks," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 36-58, November.
    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 & Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln, 2007. "Goodbye Lenin (or Not?): The Effect of Communism on People," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(4), pages 1507-1528, September.
    4. 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.
    5. Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2001. "Group Loyalty and the Taste for Redistribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(3), pages 500-528, June.
    6. Spilimbergo, Antonio & Giuliano, Paola, 2009. "Growing Up in a Recession: Beliefs and the Macroeconomy," CEPR Discussion Papers 7399, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Erzo F. P. Luttmer & Monica Singhal, 2011. "Culture, Context, and the Taste for Redistribution," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 157-179, February.
    8. 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.
    9. Klor, Esteban F. & Shayo, Moses, 2010. "Social identity and preferences over redistribution," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(3-4), pages 269-278, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eiji Yamamura, 2021. "Information of income position and its impact on perceived tax burden and preference for redistribution: An Internet Survey Experiment," Papers 2106.11537, arXiv.org.
    2. Eiji Yamamura, 2021. "Where do I rank? Am I happy?: learning income position and subjective-wellbeing in an internet experiment," Papers 2107.11185, arXiv.org.

    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. 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).
    2. Neher, Frank, 2012. "Preferences for redistribution around the world," Discussion Papers 2012/2, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    3. 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.
    4. Tina Haussen, 2018. "Intra-Household Income Inequality and Preferences for Redistribution," Jena Economics Research Papers 2018-004, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    5. Tina Haussen, 2019. "Intra-household income inequality and preferences for redistribution," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 499-530, June.
    6. Alexandru Cojocaru & Mame Fatou Diagne, 2021. "Redistributive preferences in Europe and Central Asia, 2006–2016," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 151-172, January.
    7. Gallice, Andrea, 2018. "Social status, preferences for redistribution and optimal taxation: A survey," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 12, pages 1-17.
    8. Fabio Sabatini & Francesco Sarracino & Eiji Yamamura, 2014. "Social norms on rent seeking and preferences for redistribution," Econometica Working Papers wp55, Econometica.
    9. Neher, Frank, 2012. "Preferences for Redistribution around the World," Working Papers 26/2012, Universidade Portucalense, Centro de Investigação em Gestão e Economia (CIGE).
    10. Corneo, Giacomo & Neher, Frank, 2015. "Democratic redistribution and rule of the majority," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PA), pages 96-109.
    11. 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.
    12. Anthony Edo & Lionel Ragot & Hillel Rapoport & Sulin Sardoschau & Andreas Steinmayr, 2018. "The Effects of Immigration in Developed Countries: Insights from Recent Economic Research," CEPII Policy Brief 2018-22, CEPII research center.
    13. Londoño-Vélez, Juliana, 2022. "The impact of diversity on perceptions of income distribution and preferences for redistribution," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    14. Matías Strehl Pessina, 2022. "Sectores de altos ingresos y preferencias por redistribución," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 22-15, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    15. Erzo F. P. Luttmer & Monica Singhal, 2011. "Culture, Context, and the Taste for Redistribution," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 157-179, February.
    16. Gilles Le Garrec, 2011. "Redistribution and the cultural transmission of the taste for fairness," Working Papers hal-01069524, HAL.
    17. Joan Costa Font & Frank Cowell, 2015. "European Identity and Redistributive Preferences," CEP Discussion Papers dp1362, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    18. 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.
    19. Yamamura, Eiji, 2012. "Social capital, household income, and preferences for income redistribution," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 498-511.
    20. Ilyana Kuziemko & Michael I. Norton & Emmanuel Saez & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2015. "How Elastic Are Preferences for Redistribution? Evidence from Randomized Survey Experiments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(4), pages 1478-1508, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:canjec:v:51:y:2018:i:4:p:1386-1418. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1540-5982 .

    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.