Measuring Preferences for Income Equality and Income Mobility

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lara, E. Bernardo; Shores, Kenneth A.
• 署名单位: Universidad Adolfo Ibanez; University of Delaware
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01240
• 发表日期: 2024-11
• 页码: 1542-1557
• 关键词: inequality; CHOICE; redistribution; opportunity; LAND

摘要

This paper quantifies preferences for income equality and mobility by generating statistics that are uncorrelated with beliefs and can be interpreted as marginal rates of substitution (MRS). All things being equal, U.S. residents are willing to reduce average income by $2,744 to reduce the 90/10 income inequality ratio one unit, and $1,228 to increase income mobility from the bottom quintile one percentage point. Democrats and Independents have similar preferences for both social variables, while Republicans have an MRS that is about two-thirds that of Democrats and Independents for both income inequality and mobility.