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...

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Hauptverfasser: Lustenhouwer, Joep (VerfasserIn) , Makarewicz, Tomasz (VerfasserIn) , Peña, Juan Carlos (VerfasserIn) , Proano, Christian (VerfasserIn)
Dokumenttyp: Book/Monograph Arbeitspapier
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Bamberg Bamberg Economic Research Group, Bamberg University February 2021
Schriftenreihe:BERG working paper series no. 168 (February 2021)
In: BERG working paper series (no. 168 (February 2021))

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Online-Zugang: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
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Verfasserangaben:Joep Lustenhouwer, Tomasz Makarewicz, Juan Carlos Peña and Christian R. Proaño
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung: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.
Beschreibung:Online Resource
ISBN:9783943153897