Download full text
(812.3Kb)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-79186-6
Exports for your reference manager
Redistributive preferences: Why actual income is ultimately more important than perceived income
[journal article]
Abstract An emerging consensus claims that 'subjective' (mis)perceptions of income inequality better explain redistributive preferences than actual 'objective' conditions. In this article, we critically re-assess this view. We compare perceived and actual income positions as predictors for preferences for re... view more
An emerging consensus claims that 'subjective' (mis)perceptions of income inequality better explain redistributive preferences than actual 'objective' conditions. In this article, we critically re-assess this view. We compare perceived and actual income positions as predictors for preferences for redistribution. We argue that perceived income is partly endogenous to actual income and its effect on preferences conditional on ideology. Using an original survey experiment from Switzerland, we show that the predictive power of perceived income is lower compared to actual income. Perceived income is only associated with redistribution preferences among centre-right respondents, but not among left-wing respondents. Furthermore, providing respondents with corrective information about their true position in the income hierarchy has no effect on redistribution preferences. These findings go against the new consensus about the superior explanatory power of subjective perceptions of income inequality. We argue instead that absolute objective conditions should be at the centre of explaining redistributive preferences.... view less
Keywords
inequality; perception; redistribution; income; survey; income situation; Switzerland; attitude formation
Classification
Income Policy, Property Policy, Wage Policy
Sociology of Economics
Free Keywords
perceptions of inequality; preferences for redistribution; survey experiment; subjective and objective conditions; ideology; EU-SILC 2014
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
p. 135-147
Journal
Journal of European Social Policy, 32 (2021) 2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/09589287211037912
ISSN
1461-7269
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed