(Mis-)perception of Inequality:measures, determinants, and consequences
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Yilong Xu; Ginevra Marandola
- Source
- SSRN Electronic Journal.
- Subject
- History
genetic structures
Polymers and Plastics
Inequality
media_common.quotation_subject
Subjective perception
Redistribution (cultural anthropology)
Social mobility
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Perception
Economics
Demographic economics
Business and International Management
media_common
- Language
- ISSN
- 1556-5068
Despite being considered by many to be harmful for society, inequality has been rising in the past decades. How people experience the level of inequality may be different from the objective levels of inequality. In this literature review we systematically revisit common elicitation methods of perceived inequality and find that they lead to quite different conclusions. Yet, it is clear that most people’s perceptions of inequality are biased. Individuals’ past experience and exposure to local inequality, have profound impact on subjective perception of inequality and on redistribution preferences. Positive expectations about upward mobility explain lack of support for redistribution.