Attitudes toward Eliminating Income Inequality in Europe

Karl Kaltenthaler, Stephen Ceccoli and Ronald Gelleny
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Karl Kaltenthaler: University of Akron, USA, kck@uakron.edu
Stephen Ceccoli: Rhodes College, USA, ceccoli@rhodes.edu
Ronald Gelleny: University of Akron, USA, Gelleny@uakron.edu

European Union Politics, 2008, vol. 9, issue 2, 217-241

Abstract: In this paper, we seek to understand why attitudes vary among individuals regarding the issue of income distribution in European Union member states. We believe that the issue of income inequality is a potentially significant political cleavage that may have an important influence in meaningful ways in European politics. Rather than focusing on the national context to explain variation in citizen attitudes toward income inequality, we control for national context and explore the relative influence of various individual-level characteristics in shaping how Europeans think about the distribution of income in their countries. We assess how individuals' political attitude, economic self-interest, and general attitude toward society affect how they think about income equality in their own society. To test these propositions, we devise a series of hypotheses that are tested in an ordered probit model using data from the 2000—1 wave of the World Values and European Values Surveys. It is our contention that the way people think about income inequality in their society is largely a product of the ideas that they hold about politics and society, and not principally a product of their economic self-interest.

Keywords: income inequality; political economy; probit model; public opinion; World Values Survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:9:y:2008:i:2:p:217-241

DOI: 10.1177/1465116508089086

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