ON THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS INEQUALITY

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental framework for separating the attitude toward inequality from the attitude toward risk. This exploratory experimental study examines the attitude toward inequality while keeping risk constant. The results support the hypothesis of inequality aversion only among middle-income subjects. More interestingly we found that higher equality motivates individuals to take more risk and challenge. This result is a counterpoint to the standard line that inequality is needed to encourage effort.

Citation

Davidovitz, L. and Kroll, Y. (2004), "ON THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS INEQUALITY", Cowell, F. (Ed.) Inequality, Welfare and Income Distribution: Experimental Approaches (Research on Economic Inequality, Vol. 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 137-147. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1049-2585(04)11007-7