Preferences for redistribution in three spheres of inequality

Thesis

My thesis revolves around the question of why people reject full equality and tolerate that some individuals are economically better off than others. The common thread is the attention paid to the role of fairness beliefs. I focus on three specific areas where economic inequality perpetuates itself and where different policies could be implemented. First, I study how individuals justify wage inequality across occupations. I conducted an original survey in the UK and demonstrate that, when considering market inequality and the concept of merit, individuals place value on both the inputs that workers provide, such as effort or skills, and the outputs they achieve through their jobs. Additionally, employing conjoint analysis, I show that individuals are more willing to economically reward the merit-related aspects of a job than those unrelated to merit. Mainly, they are willing to reward the responsibility attached to the job and the level of mental skills it requires. Second, my research explores citizens' support for increasing taxes on the rich. I examine whether the philanthropy of the wealthy influences individuals' willingness to tax them. I designed and conducted two survey experiments in the U.S. and observe that charitable donations by the super-rich make them seem more benevolent and greater contributors to the well-being of the poor. Moreover, I find that citizens are less willing to tax the super-rich when presented with positive information about their philanthropy. Finally, I investigate why natives are often reluctant to grant social rights to immigrants. I focus particularly on how natives value immigrants' fiscal contributions. Through conjoint analysis in three countries, I find that natives are less willing to support social rights for immigrants who are described as negative fiscal contributors, even when they are informed about immigrants' positive intentions and the structural barriers they face.

Authors: Fuster Llamazares, C

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-v0by5mozx
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: fairness; redistribution; inequality
• Subjects: Comparative Political Economy