Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/323221 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper Series No. 47
Publisher: 
University of Konstanz, Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality", Konstanz
Abstract: 
This paper establishes three novel findings on fairness and redistribution by combining theory-driven experimental games with large-scale surveys in the U.S. and five European countries. First, individuals revealing egalitarian, libertarian, or meritocratic fairness preferences in experimental games show large differences in support for tax and transfer policies. Second, beliefs in merit strongly predict policy support among meritocrats, but are less predictive among non-meritocrats. Third, fairness concerns matter across income groups and political camps. Our findings challenge the assumptions that meritocratic preferences are homogeneous, that fairness is a luxury good, and that fairness is mainly a moral foundation of left voters.
Subjects: 
Fairness
Redistribution
Political Ideology
Moral Foundations
JEL: 
D31
D63
H24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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