Inequality and redistributive preferences: Comparative analysis with panel data from the World Values Survey (1990–2018)

Abstract

[Abstract]: Different views on inequality and preferences in income redistribution are instrumental in shaping tax-and-transfers redistributive policies. While the Median Voter Theorem indicates that increasing inequality should lead to an expansion of redistributive policies, the vast differences between countries in this regard seem to reveal this as a much more issue. In order to explore it further, we examine trends in the World Values Survey, which provides a heterogeneous sample of 88 countries for the period 1990–2018. Applying estimation methods for panel data, our results point to each country economic development –measured as per capita income– and perceived rather than actual inequality, as well as cultural factors associated with a country’s geographical region, as the main determinants to explain redistribution preferences.