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Misperceptions of income distributions: cross-country evidence from a randomized survey experiment

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Article

Bublitz, Elisabeth

Socio-Economic Review

2022

20

2

435-462

income distribution ; income redistribution ; public opinion ; social inequality

Brazil ; France ; Germany ; Russia ; Spain ; USA

Income distribution

https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwaa025

English

Bibliogr.

"Can imperfect information, as revealed in individual misperceptions about income distributions, explain the demand for redistribution? I conduct a representative survey experiment in Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain and the USA, providing a personalized information treatment on income distribution to a randomly chosen subsample. Most respondents misperceive their own position in the income distribution. These biases differ notably by country and the true income position. Correcting misperceptions slightly shifts the demand towards less redistribution in Germany and Russia. This shift appears to be driven by respondents with a negative position bias. The lack of significant treatment effects in other countries may result from different individual reactions that cancel each other out. Thus, the existence of systematic misperceptions underscores their importance for understanding preferences for redistribution."

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