Whose Preferences Matter for Redistribution: Cross-Country Evidence

Michel Andre Maréchal, Alain Cohn, Jeffrey Yusof, Raymond Fisman and Michel André Maréchal
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Michel André Maréchal

No 10846, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Using cross-sectional data from 93 countries, we investigate the relationship between the desired level of redistribution among citizens from different socioeconomic backgrounds and the actual extent of government redistribution. Our focus on redistribution arises from the inherent class conflicts it engenders in policy choices, allowing us to examine whose preferences are reflected in policy formulation. Contrary to prevailing assumptions regarding political influence, we find that the preferences of the lower socioeconomic group, rather than those of the median or upper strata, are most predictive of realized redistribution. This finding contradicts the expectations of both leading experts and regular citizens.

Keywords: elite capture; median voter theorem; preferences for redistribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D78 H23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-inv and nep-pol
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp10846.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Whose Preferences Matter for Redistribution: Cross-country Evidence (2023)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10846

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Klaus Wohlrabe ().