Intergenerational transmission of preferences for redistribution

This paper analyses the formation of preferences for redistribution in young people residing in Uruguay. To do this, we explore whether there are heterogeneities associated with the life cycle of people, and study the transmission of preferences from parents to children with particular emphasis on the channels that enhance or mitigate it from three perspectives. Firstly, depending on the economic trajectories, secondly, considering personality traits of the parent and finally, based on the skills of the children. In the first two cases, it is assumed that differences in the reasons that parents want to transmit these preferences, and in the last case the transmission can be seen as being motivated on the basis of the expected returns. Thanks to the Longitudinal Study of Well-being in Uruguay, there is data on parents’ preferences for redistribution in the years 2011/12 and 2016/17, and for their children in the year 2016/17. The richness of this information, and the detailed group of variables available, allows us to make precise estimates of the channels that affect the formation of these preferences. It is found that, on average, the transmission of preferences for redistribution is exclusively associated with parents’ learning in the recent years. However, there are significant differences depending on the different channels. The transmission from parents to children is more relevant when mobility is high, when there is greater self-control on the part of the parents, and when the children score better in terms of skills.