Global evidence on the selfish rich inequality hypothesis

Ingvild Almås, Alexander Cappelen, Erik Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden
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Ingvild Almås: a Institute for International Economic Studies, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden;; b FAIR–Centre for Experimental Research on Fairness, Inequality and Rationality, Norwegian School of Economics, 5045 Bergen, Norway

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022, vol. 119, issue 3, e2109690119

Abstract: People’s beliefs about why the rich are richer than the poor have the potential to affect both policy attitudes and economic development. We provide global evidence showing that where the fortunes of the rich are perceived to be the result of selfish behavior, inequality is viewed as unfair, and there is stronger support for income redistribution. However, we also observe that belief in selfish rich inequality is highly polarized in many countries and thus a source of political disagreement that might be detrimental to economic development. We find systematic country differences in the extent to which people believe that selfishness is a source of inequality, which sheds light on international differences in public morality, civic virtues, and redistributive policies.

Keywords: selfishness; inequality; redistribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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