of Inequality Income Inequality and Belief in Meritocracy go Hand - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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of Inequality Income Inequality and Belief in Meritocracy go Hand - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Mar 20, 2023 132 likes •618 views

The Paradox of Inequality Income Inequality and Belief in Meritocracy go Hand in Hand Introduction Across the Western world, income inequality is on the rise Growing income inequality Across the Western world, income inequality is on the rise

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The Paradox

  • f Inequality

Income Inequality and Belief in Meritocracy go Hand in Hand

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Introduction

Across the Western world, income inequality is on the rise

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Growing income inequality

Across the Western world, income inequality is on the rise

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Inequality is on the rise

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Inequality is on the agenda…

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… or is it?

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Concerns about inequality

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Concerns about inequality

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Concerns about inequality

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Concerns about inequality

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Paradox of inequality

Across the Western world, income inequality is on the rise

Atkinson, Piketty, and Saez 2011; Keister and Moller 2000; McCall and Percheski 2010; Morris and Western 1999; Neckerman and Torche 2007; Piketty 2014; Saez and Zucman 2016

Yet, no evidence of growing concerns

Alesina and Glaeser 2004; Brooks and Manza 2013; Kenworthy and McCall 2008; Kuziemko et al. 2015; Larsen 2016; Lübker 2007

In fact, citizens of more unequal societies are less concerned

Anderson & Yaish 2012; Bucca 2016; Luttig 2013; McCall 2013; Paskov and Dewilde 2012

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Paradox

Despite the reality of rising inequalities, people in more unequal societies show less concern about it

Solution

Rising inequality and segregation mean that the rich and poor live increasingly insulated lives; unable to see the full extent of inequality and its structural roots

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Overview

  • 1. Discuss extant explanations
  • 2. Present my own take
  • 3. Test hypotheses using ISSP data
  • 4. Conclusions for research, theory, policy
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Extant explanations

  • 1. People are misinformed about inequality (cognition)

they underestimate extent of inequality, and are unware of rising inequalities

Cruces, Perez-Truglia, and Tetaz 2013; Kenworthy and McCall 2008; Norton and Ariely 2011; Osberg and Smeeding 2006; Franko 2017; Kraus, Rucker, Richeson 2017; Choi 2019; Howarth et al. 2019

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Misperceptions of inequality

Source: Franko 2017 / US Census

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Misperceptions of inequality

Source: Franko 2017 / Harris Poll

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Role of information

Informational intervention may … … raise concerns and preference for redistribution … raise concerns but leave preferences unchanged … dampen concerns

Alesina, Stantcheva and Teso 2017; Kuklinski et al. 2000; Cruces, Perez-Truglia, and Tetaz 2013; Trump 2017; Nair 2018; Kuziemko et al. 2015

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Extant explanations

  • 2. People do not care about inequality (morality)

they believe economic inequality reflects a meritocratic process

Bénabou and Tirole, 2006; Jost et al., 2004; Lerner, 1980; Kluegel and Smith, 1986; Lamont, 1992; Lamont et al., 2014; Hochschild, 1996; Kelly and Enns, 2010; Hall and Lamont, 2013; Mijs et al., 2016; Somers and Block, 2005

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Synthesis

Inequality transforms the social and spatial landscape; increasing the social distance between rich and poor

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Synthesis

Unequal societies are marked by greater social distance neighborhood segregation school segregation stratified and segmented labor markets network homophily and homogamy

Mills 1959; Runciman, 1966; Lockwood, 1966; Irwin, 2018; Minkoff and Lyons, 2018; Dawtry et al., 2015; Kalleberg, 2009; Massey and Tannen, 2016; Musterd, 2005; Neckerman and Torche, 2007; Owens, 2016; Reardon and Bischoff, 2011; Tammaru et al., 2016; Mijs 2018

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Hypotheses

  • 1. Income inequality

+ belief meritocracy

  • 2. Belief meritocracy -

concerns about inequality

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Data & methods

International Social Survey Programme, 1987-2012 Hierarchical linear models 23 countries (level 3) 43 country-periods (level 2) 49,383 individuals (level 1) Income inequality (Gini) between-country and within-country over-time

Schmidt-Catran and Fairbrother, 2016; Schmidt-Catran, 2016; Fairbrother 2014

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Measures (individual)

Concern “Income differences are too high” Meritocracy “who gets ahead in society” is decided by hard work Structural inequality “who gets ahead in society” is decided by coming from a wealthy family and/or knowing the right people

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Measures (country-period)

Income inequality post-tax household Gini (source: Milanovic) Economic development gross domestic product (source: OECD)

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Trend in meritocracy belief

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Trend in meritocracy belief

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Trend in meritocracy belief

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Trend in meritocracy belief

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Trend in meritocracy belief

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Inequality & popular opinion

How do popular beliefs and concerns about inequality correlate with economic inequality?

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Inequality & public concern concern

Concern about inequality (r = -0.37)

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Inequality & public concern concern

Concern about inequality (r = 0.10)

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Inequality & popular bel beliefs iefs

Belief in structural inequality (r = -0.30) Belief in meritocracy (r = 0.57)

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Individual beliefs

How are individual citizens’ beliefs impacted by inequality? Pooling countries and time-periods, holding constant country-specific factors (politics, culture) general trends over time (neoliberalism) individual characteristics (education, employment)

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Individual belie beliefs fs

Belief in meritocracy Belief in structural inequality

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Individual belie beliefs fs

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20 40 60 80 100

Lowest inequality Highest inequality Meritocracy Structural inequality

Individual belie beliefs fs

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20 40 60 80 100

Lowest inequality Highest inequality Meritocracy Structural inequality

Individual belie beliefs fs

Belief in meritocracy +12 pts

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Individual conce concern rns

Belief in meritocracy Belief in structural inequality

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Conclusions

Research impact economic inequality on social distance

Reardon and Bischoff, 2011; Watson, 2009; Reardon et al., 2018; Haller et al., 2016; Musterd, 2005

Theory inequality creates conditions for its own legitimation

Kelly and Enns, 2010; Minkoff and Lyons, 2018

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Theoretical implication

Unequal societies create conditions for their legitimation Economic inequality Social distance Belief in meritocracy

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Conclusions

Politics publics caught in feedback loop breaking the loop requires less social distance more interactions heterogeneous institutions

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Acknowledgements

Josefina Cintron Tiryakian and Edward A. Tiryakian Fund Harvard Jason Beckfield, Larry Bobo, Devah Pager Columbia Liza Steele, Tom VanHeuvelen, ISA RC28 LSE Fabien Accominotti, Katharina Hecht, Dan McArthur, Sociology writing group