Chapter 13
Attitudes to Income Inequality
Experimental and Survey Evidence
Andrew E. Clark*; Conchita D'Ambrosio† * Paris School of Economics—CNRS, Paris, France† INSIDE, Université du Luxembourg, Walferdange, Luxembourg
Abstract
We review the survey and experimental findings in the literature on attitudes to income inequality. We interpret the latter as any disparity in incomes between individuals. We classify these findings into two broad types of individual attitudes toward the income distribution in a society: the normative and the comparative view. The first can be thought of as the individual's disinterested evaluation of income inequality; on the contrary, the second view reflects self-interest, as individuals’ inequality attitudes ...
