 Neighborhoods, perceived Inequality, and preferences for Redistribution: Evidence from BarcelonaJournal of Public Economics, 2025, vol. 242, issue C Abstract: I study the effects of neighborhood-level inequality on perceived national-level inequality and preferences for redistribution. I construct a novel measure of local inequality using geolocated housing data and elicit perceptions and preferences from an original survey conducted in Barcelona. Local inequality is positively associated with perceived inequality but not with preferences for redistribution. I address endogenous sorting by exploiting quasi-random variation in exposure to new apartment buildings; this increases perceived inequality by 7% and has a positive but not statistically significant effect on demand for redistribution. Effects come from higher perceived income at the top. Local inequality shapes national-level inequality perceptions, but if it influences demand for redistribution, the effect is small. This work suggests that individuals extrapolate from their local environments when forming beliefs and highlights the importance of data granularity when studying neighborhood effects. Keywords: Inequality; Gini; Redistribution; Housing (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:242:y:2025:i:c:s004727272400224x DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2024.105288 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Public Economics is currently edited by R. Boadway and J. Poterba More articles in Journal of Public Economics from Elsevier |
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