Seminario del Instituto de Políticas y Bienes Públicos (IPP-CSIC) - 26 junio

Os invitamos a participar en el Seminario del Instituto de Políticas y Bienes Públicos (IPP-CSIC) el próximo miércoles 26 de junio a las 12.00 hs.

En esta ocasión, se presentará la ponencia “Inequality of Opportunities and Preferences for Redistribution”, a cargo Antonio M. Jaime Castillo (Universidad de Málaga)

Abstract: There is a vast literature on the relationship between inequality of outcomes and demand for redistribution. Surprisingly, however, much less attention has been paid to the concept of inequality of opportunities, even though there is empirical evidence that fairness evaluations affect demand for redistribution at both individual and aggregate levels. In this project, I analyze whether inequality of opportunities (rather than outcomes) is connected with preferences for redistribution at the individual level. I focus specifically on the sources of actual inequalities by decomposing individual outcomes into a fair share, which can be attributed to personal merit and effort, and surplus outcomes, which are the results of structural barriers in the labor markets or depend on inherited factors such as social background. To that end, I rely on the methodological approach used by the economic literature on reference groups, in which individual income is the product of two components: the average income of the group and an idiosyncratic factor, which is the result of individual attributes. Using data from the European Social Survey I have found that inequality of opportunities has an impact on preferences for redistribution at both the individual and the aggregate levels. Particularly, empirical findings show that individual differences with respect to the reference group (especially those caused by inherited disadvantages) have a strong and significant impact on preferences for redistribution. In addition, educational inequality has a negative a significant effect over preferences for redistribution at the aggregate level.

 

El seminario tendrá lugar en la sala Herbert Simon (3D18).