A false divide? Correcting beliefs about inequality aligns preferences for redistribution between right and left-wing voters

Christopher Hoy and Russell Toth

No 494, Working Papers from ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality

Abstract: Are differences in preferences for redistribution between right- and left-wing voters amplified because of misperceptions of inequality? To address this question, we conduct a nationally representative, randomized survey experiment of 3,402 Australians, in which respondents are informed about either the level of national inequality and economic mobility, their position in the national income distribution, their household income per capita, or given no information. We show that correcting misperceptions of inequality reduces the gap between right- and left-wing voters‘ level of support for redistribution by at least 24 percent. This is predominantly due to right-wing voters becoming more supportive of redistribution.

Keywords: Inequality; social mobility; redistribution; political economy. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 D72 D83 H23 O50 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 60 pages
Date: 2019-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2019-494

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