(In-)equality of opportunity, fairness, and distributional preferences
This paper examines how perceived importance of family background affect distributional pref-erences using two large-scale survey experiments. In the first experiment, we randomly inform respondents about the relationship between parental income and economic success later in life, which renders thei...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Book/Monograph Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Munich, Germany
CESifo, Center for Economic Studies & Ifo Institute
October 2022
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| Series: | CESifo working paper
no. 10001 (2022) |
| In: |
CESifo working papers (no. 10001 (2022))
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp10001.pdf Verlag, kostenfrei: https://www.cesifo.org/en/publications/2022/working-paper/equality-opportunity-fairness-and-distributional-preferences Resolving-System, kostenfrei: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/267234 
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| Author Notes: | Dietmar Fehr, Daniel Müller, Marcel Preuss |
| Summary: | This paper examines how perceived importance of family background affect distributional pref-erences using two large-scale survey experiments. In the first experiment, we randomly inform respondents about the relationship between parental income and economic success later in life, which renders their perceptions of equality of opportunity more pessimistic. However, this changes neither revealed distributional preferences nor pro-social behavior toward the rich and poor. The second experiment shows that respondents do not account for parental influence on economic success when making (re-)distribution decisions, suggesting that people view parental influence as a legitimate reason to justify some inequality. This can explain why distributional preferences are immune to changes in perceptions of equality of opportunity. |
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| Physical Description: | Online Resource |