Should Income Inequality Be Reduced and Who Should Benefit? Redistributive Preferences in Europe and Central Asia

This paper examines support for reducing inequality and for income redistribution to specific groups in Europe and Central Asia. The paper uses the Life in Transition Survey to analyze cross-country differences in redistributive preferences and the...

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Main Authors:	Cojocaru, Alexandru, Diagne, Mame Fatou
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank Group, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:	CORRUPTION COUNTRY DUMMIES COUNTRY LEVEL CRIME CROSS-COUNTRY DIFFERENCES DEPENDENT VARIABLE DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS DISTRIBUTIVE POLITICS DROUGHT ECONOMIC CONTRACTION ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC POLICY ECONOMIC RESEARCH ECONOMIC REVIEW ECONOMIC THEORY EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPIRICAL STUDIES EMPLOYMENT STATUS EU FAMILIES FAMILY ALLOWANCES FINANCIAL CRISIS GDP GENDER GINI COEFFICIENT HIGH INCOME INEQUALITY HOME HOUSEHOLD SIZE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA HOUSEHOLD WELFARE INCOME INCOME DIFFERENCES INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS INCOME INEQUALITY INCOME REDISTRIBUTION INCOME SCALE INCOME SHOCKS INCOMES INEQUALITIES INEQUALITY AVERSION INEQUALITY MEASURE IRRIGATION MACROECONOMICS MARITAL STATUS MARKET FAILURES MEDIAN VOTER MEDIAN VOTER THEOREM MEDIAN VOTERS NEGATIVE EFFECT PENSIONS POLICY DECISIONS POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY OUTCOMES POLICY RESEARCH POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL SCIENCE POOR POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY SAMPLING UNITS PSU PUBLIC ECONOMICS PUBLIC GOODS PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PUBLIC POLICY PUBLIC SUPPORT PUBLIC TRANSFERS REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICIES REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICY REDISTRIBUTIVE TAXATION REDUCING INEQUALITY RELATIVE INCOME RESIDENCE RISK AVERSION RURAL RURAL AREAS SEX SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL JUSTICE SOCIAL MOBILITY SOCIAL POLICY SOCIAL SAFETY SOCIAL SAFETY NETS SOCIAL TRANSFERS TRANSITION ECONOMIES WAR WILL WORKING POOR
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/11/20365793/income-inequality-reduced-benefit-redistributive-preferences-europe-central-asia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20619

id	okr-10986-20619
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-206192021-04-23T14:03:59Z Should Income Inequality Be Reduced and Who Should Benefit? Redistributive Preferences in Europe and Central Asia Cojocaru, Alexandru Diagne, Mame Fatou CORRUPTION COUNTRY DUMMIES COUNTRY LEVEL CRIME CROSS-COUNTRY DIFFERENCES DEPENDENT VARIABLE DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS DISTRIBUTIVE POLITICS DROUGHT ECONOMIC CONTRACTION ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC POLICY ECONOMIC RESEARCH ECONOMIC REVIEW ECONOMIC THEORY EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPIRICAL STUDIES EMPLOYMENT STATUS EU FAMILIES FAMILY ALLOWANCES FINANCIAL CRISIS GDP GENDER GINI COEFFICIENT HIGH INCOME INEQUALITY HOME HOUSEHOLD SIZE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA HOUSEHOLD WELFARE INCOME INCOME DIFFERENCES INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS INCOME INEQUALITY INCOME REDISTRIBUTION INCOME SCALE INCOME SHOCKS INCOMES INEQUALITIES INEQUALITY AVERSION INEQUALITY MEASURE IRRIGATION MACROECONOMICS MARITAL STATUS MARKET FAILURES MEDIAN VOTER MEDIAN VOTER THEOREM MEDIAN VOTERS NEGATIVE EFFECT PENSIONS POLICY DECISIONS POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY OUTCOMES POLICY RESEARCH POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL SCIENCE POOR POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY SAMPLING UNITS PSU PUBLIC ECONOMICS PUBLIC GOODS PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PUBLIC POLICY PUBLIC SUPPORT PUBLIC TRANSFERS REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICIES REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICY REDISTRIBUTIVE TAXATION REDUCING INEQUALITY RELATIVE INCOME RESIDENCE RISK AVERSION RURAL RURAL AREAS SEX SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL JUSTICE SOCIAL MOBILITY SOCIAL POLICY SOCIAL SAFETY SOCIAL SAFETY NETS SOCIAL TRANSFERS TRANSITION ECONOMIES WAR WILL WORKING POOR This paper examines support for reducing inequality and for income redistribution to specific groups in Europe and Central Asia. The paper uses the Life in Transition Survey to analyze cross-country differences in redistributive preferences and the determinants of individual-level differences in such preferences. The analysis tests for various possible motivations, such as self-interest, beliefs about the fairness of the income-generating process, past social mobility experience, or expectations of future social mobility. Fewer people wanted to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor in 2010 than in 2006 in transition countries. Support for redistribution toward specific groups is highest for the disabled and the elderly, but there is high heterogeneity across countries in support for various redistributive policies, as well as in the alignment between average beliefs and actual policies. The empirical analysis confirms the importance of beliefs about fairness in influencing redistributive preferences, together with self-interest and past and expected social mobility in European Union member states (Western European and new member states), but only to a limited extent in the non-European Union member state group of transition countries. Regarding redistribution to specific groups, self-interest appears to be an important motivation for support for the elderly and families with children, whereas values and beliefs are important drivers of support for the working poor and the unemployed. Although framing matters, the results are broadly robust to alternative measures of support for reducing inequality. 2014-12-03T16:34:26Z 2014-12-03T16:34:26Z 2014-11 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/11/20365793/income-inequality-reduced-benefit-redistributive-preferences-europe-central-asia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20619 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7097 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Group, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Europe and Central Asia Central Asia Europe and Central Asia Eastern Europe European Union
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English en_US
topic	CORRUPTION COUNTRY DUMMIES COUNTRY LEVEL CRIME CROSS-COUNTRY DIFFERENCES DEPENDENT VARIABLE DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS DISTRIBUTIVE POLITICS DROUGHT ECONOMIC CONTRACTION ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC POLICY ECONOMIC RESEARCH ECONOMIC REVIEW ECONOMIC THEORY EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPIRICAL STUDIES EMPLOYMENT STATUS EU FAMILIES FAMILY ALLOWANCES FINANCIAL CRISIS GDP GENDER GINI COEFFICIENT HIGH INCOME INEQUALITY HOME HOUSEHOLD SIZE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA HOUSEHOLD WELFARE INCOME INCOME DIFFERENCES INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS INCOME INEQUALITY INCOME REDISTRIBUTION INCOME SCALE INCOME SHOCKS INCOMES INEQUALITIES INEQUALITY AVERSION INEQUALITY MEASURE IRRIGATION MACROECONOMICS MARITAL STATUS MARKET FAILURES MEDIAN VOTER MEDIAN VOTER THEOREM MEDIAN VOTERS NEGATIVE EFFECT PENSIONS POLICY DECISIONS POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY OUTCOMES POLICY RESEARCH POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL SCIENCE POOR POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY SAMPLING UNITS PSU PUBLIC ECONOMICS PUBLIC GOODS PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PUBLIC POLICY PUBLIC SUPPORT PUBLIC TRANSFERS REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICIES REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICY REDISTRIBUTIVE TAXATION REDUCING INEQUALITY RELATIVE INCOME RESIDENCE RISK AVERSION RURAL RURAL AREAS SEX SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL JUSTICE SOCIAL MOBILITY SOCIAL POLICY SOCIAL SAFETY SOCIAL SAFETY NETS SOCIAL TRANSFERS TRANSITION ECONOMIES WAR WILL WORKING POOR
spellingShingle	CORRUPTION COUNTRY DUMMIES COUNTRY LEVEL CRIME CROSS-COUNTRY DIFFERENCES DEPENDENT VARIABLE DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS DISTRIBUTIVE POLITICS DROUGHT ECONOMIC CONTRACTION ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC POLICY ECONOMIC RESEARCH ECONOMIC REVIEW ECONOMIC THEORY EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPIRICAL STUDIES EMPLOYMENT STATUS EU FAMILIES FAMILY ALLOWANCES FINANCIAL CRISIS GDP GENDER GINI COEFFICIENT HIGH INCOME INEQUALITY HOME HOUSEHOLD SIZE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA HOUSEHOLD WELFARE INCOME INCOME DIFFERENCES INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS INCOME INEQUALITY INCOME REDISTRIBUTION INCOME SCALE INCOME SHOCKS INCOMES INEQUALITIES INEQUALITY AVERSION INEQUALITY MEASURE IRRIGATION MACROECONOMICS MARITAL STATUS MARKET FAILURES MEDIAN VOTER MEDIAN VOTER THEOREM MEDIAN VOTERS NEGATIVE EFFECT PENSIONS POLICY DECISIONS POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY OUTCOMES POLICY RESEARCH POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL SCIENCE POOR POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY SAMPLING UNITS PSU PUBLIC ECONOMICS PUBLIC GOODS PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PUBLIC POLICY PUBLIC SUPPORT PUBLIC TRANSFERS REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICIES REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICY REDISTRIBUTIVE TAXATION REDUCING INEQUALITY RELATIVE INCOME RESIDENCE RISK AVERSION RURAL RURAL AREAS SEX SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL JUSTICE SOCIAL MOBILITY SOCIAL POLICY SOCIAL SAFETY SOCIAL SAFETY NETS SOCIAL TRANSFERS TRANSITION ECONOMIES WAR WILL WORKING POOR Cojocaru, Alexandru Diagne, Mame Fatou Should Income Inequality Be Reduced and Who Should Benefit? Redistributive Preferences in Europe and Central Asia
geographic_facet	Europe and Central Asia Central Asia Europe and Central Asia Eastern Europe European Union
relation	Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7097
description	This paper examines support for reducing inequality and for income redistribution to specific groups in Europe and Central Asia. The paper uses the Life in Transition Survey to analyze cross-country differences in redistributive preferences and the determinants of individual-level differences in such preferences. The analysis tests for various possible motivations, such as self-interest, beliefs about the fairness of the income-generating process, past social mobility experience, or expectations of future social mobility. Fewer people wanted to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor in 2010 than in 2006 in transition countries. Support for redistribution toward specific groups is highest for the disabled and the elderly, but there is high heterogeneity across countries in support for various redistributive policies, as well as in the alignment between average beliefs and actual policies. The empirical analysis confirms the importance of beliefs about fairness in influencing redistributive preferences, together with self-interest and past and expected social mobility in European Union member states (Western European and new member states), but only to a limited extent in the non-European Union member state group of transition countries. Regarding redistribution to specific groups, self-interest appears to be an important motivation for support for the elderly and families with children, whereas values and beliefs are important drivers of support for the working poor and the unemployed. Although framing matters, the results are broadly robust to alternative measures of support for reducing inequality.
format	Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author	Cojocaru, Alexandru Diagne, Mame Fatou
author_facet	Cojocaru, Alexandru Diagne, Mame Fatou
author_sort	Cojocaru, Alexandru
title	Should Income Inequality Be Reduced and Who Should Benefit? Redistributive Preferences in Europe and Central Asia
title_short	Should Income Inequality Be Reduced and Who Should Benefit? Redistributive Preferences in Europe and Central Asia
title_full	Should Income Inequality Be Reduced and Who Should Benefit? Redistributive Preferences in Europe and Central Asia
title_fullStr	Should Income Inequality Be Reduced and Who Should Benefit? Redistributive Preferences in Europe and Central Asia
title_full_unstemmed	Should Income Inequality Be Reduced and Who Should Benefit? Redistributive Preferences in Europe and Central Asia
title_sort	should income inequality be reduced and who should benefit? redistributive preferences in europe and central asia
publisher	World Bank Group, Washington, DC
publishDate	2014
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/11/20365793/income-inequality-reduced-benefit-redistributive-preferences-europe-central-asia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20619
_version_	1764446850908160000

Should Income Inequality Be Reduced and Who Should Benefit? Redistributive Preferences in Europe and Central Asia

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