Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/330786 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] The Journal of Economic Inequality [ISSN:] 1573-8701 [Volume:] 23 [Issue:] 3 [Publisher:] Springer US [Place:] New York, NY [Year:] 2025 [Pages:] 835-855
Publisher: 
Springer US, New York, NY
Abstract: 
Meritocratic beliefs are often invoked as justification for inequality. We provide evidence on how meritocratic beliefs are shaped by economic rewards and how they contribute to the moral justification of inequality. In a large-scale survey experiment in the US, we show that economic rewards cause a change in beliefs about success depending on effort rather than luck. Exploiting exogenous variation in meritocratic beliefs in a two-stage analysis shows that these beliefs affect the level of inequality people accept. Successful people prefer to remain ignorant about the true underlying reasons for success, and there is no evidence that meritocratic beliefs are moderated by political orientation.
Subjects: 
Meritocratic beliefs
Inequality acceptance
Fairness
Political views
Survey experiment
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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