How much does knowing where their money comes from affect what we think about the top 1%?

How much of the income of rich people comes from capital and how much from labor? And how does knowing this affect our perceptions of the rich and inequality?

In this paper, Oscar Barrera-Rodriguez and Emmanuel Chávez examine the impact of providing information on the source of income of the top 1% earners on attitudes towards this group. Based on a randomized online survey of 2000 French respondents, they find that:

• Simply presenting information about the amount of money the rich make is insufficient to change attitudes toward top earners.
• Information about other aspects of income at the top, especially the sources of income (capital versus labor), does produce a shift.
• This can provide valuable insights of academic interest (for understanding preferences toward top earners) and policy relevance (for designing tax policy).

AUTHORS

• Oscar Barrera-Rodriguez, CY Cergy Paris Université, CNRS, THEMA
• Emmanuel Chávez, Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas

MEDIA CONTACT

•  press@wid.world