|
Working Paper
| HBS Working Paper Series
| 2011
Income Inequality and Social Preferences for Redistribution and Compensation Differentials
by
William R. Kerr
|
Abstract
In cross-sectional studies, countries with greater income inequality typically exhibit less support for government-led redistribution and greater acceptance of wage inequality (e.g., United States versus Western Europe). If individual nations evolve along this pattern, a vicious cycle could form with reduced social concern amplifying primal increases in inequality due to forces like skill-biased technical change. Exploring movements around these long-term levels, however, this study finds mixed evidence regarding the vicious cycle hypothesis. On one hand, larger compensation differentials are accepted as inequality grows. This growth in differentials is of a smaller magnitude than the actual increase in inequality, but it is nonetheless positive and substantial in size. Weighing against this, growth in inequality is met with greater support for government-led redistribution to the poor. These patterns suggest that short-run inequality shocks can be reinforced in the labor market but do not result in weaker political preferences for redistribution.
Keywords: Government and Politics;
Equality and Inequality;
Compensation and Benefits;
Poverty;
Country;
Social Issues;
Income Characteristics;
Wages;
Competency and Skills;
System Shocks;
Size;
Europe;
United States;