Inequality Perceptions, Distributional Norms, and Redistributive Preferences in East and West Germany

Andreas Kuhn ()
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Andreas Kuhn: Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training

No 5573, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper studies differences in inequality perceptions, distributional norms, and redistributive preferences between East and West Germany. As expected, there are substantial differences with respect to all three of these measures. Surprisingly, however, differences in distributional norms are much smaller than differences with respect to inequality perceptions or redistributive preferences. Nonetheless, individuals from East Germany tend to be more supportive of state redistribution and progressive taxation, and less likely to have a conservative political orientation, even conditional on having the same inequality perceptions and distributional norms.

Keywords: political preferences; redistributive preferences; subjective inequality indices (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 H50 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 25 pages
Date: 2011-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-ltv, nep-pol and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - revised and shortened version published in: German Economic Review, 2013, 14(4), 483-499

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