Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/272536 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15909
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
How do we persuade people to part with money they feel they have rightly earned? We conducted a dyadic experiment (N=1,986) where luck determined which of the players' performance counted toward winning the game. Despite luck playing a large part, we found strong evidence of justified deservingness among the winners. The better they performed in the task, the less they redistributed to their nonwinning partner. However, in treatments where performance was transparent, winners significantly increased redistribution to nonwinners who performed similarly well. We find that transparency can effectively alter redistributive preferences even when people feel fully deserving of their income.
Subjects: 
luck
efforts
survivalship bias
redistribution
inequality
deservingness
JEL: 
C9
D9
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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