Are some people more equal than others?: experimental evidence on group identity and income inequality
We investigate the effects of group identity and income inequality on social preferences and polarization by means of a laboratory experiment. We split our subjects into two populations: in-group (representing "natives") and out-group ("migrants"). In-group subjects repeatedly vo...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Book/Monograph Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Bamberg
Bamberg Economic Research Group, Bamberg University
February 2021
|
| Series: | BERG working paper series
no. 168 (February 2021) |
| In: |
BERG working paper series (no. 168 (February 2021))
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei: https://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/uni/fakultaeten/sowi_faecher/vwl/BERG/BERG_168.pdf Resolving-System, kostenfrei: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/231405 
|
| Author Notes: | Joep Lustenhouwer, Tomasz Makarewicz, Juan Carlos Peña and Christian R. Proaño |
| Summary: | We investigate the effects of group identity and income inequality on social preferences and polarization by means of a laboratory experiment. We split our subjects into two populations: in-group (representing "natives") and out-group ("migrants"). In-group subjects repeatedly vote whether an unemployment insurance should cover all, some, or no members of their group. By means of a two-by-two design we disentangle the effect of group identity from those of income inequality. Among others, our experiment yields the following findings: (1) subjects tend to vote for less inclusive insurance schemes when they sample a higher chance of employment; however, (2) in-group subjects with an ex ante more beneficial distribution of employment chances - relative to the out-group - are less selfish and vote for more inclusive insurance schemes; (3) ex ante more beneficial relative employment chances of in-group subjects also leads to less polarization; and (4) revelation and priming of group identity does not lead to discrimination against out-group "migrants" but, on the contrary, can lead to more compassionate and inclusive attitudes. |
|---|---|
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISBN: | 9783943153897 |