Leaky Bucket in the Real World: Estimating Inequality Aversion Using Survey Data

Jukka Pirttilä and Roope Uusitalo

No 2026, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Existing evidence of inequality aversion relies on data from class-room experiments where subjects face hypothetical questions. This paper estimates the magnitude of inequality aversion using representative survey data, with questions related to the real-economy situations the respondents face. The results reveal that the magnitude of inequality aversion can be measured in a meaningful way using survey data, but the estimates depend dramatically on the framing of the question. No matter how measured, the revealed inequality aversion predicts opinions on a wide range of questions related to the welfare state, such as the level of taxation, tax progressivity and the structure of unemployment benefits.

Keywords: inequality aversion; social welfare functions; welfare state (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: A ‘Leaky Bucket’ in the Real World: Estimating Inequality Aversion using Survey Data (2010)
Working Paper: Leaky Bucket in the Real World: Estimating Inequality Aversion Using Survey Data (2007)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_2026

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