Redistribution and the cultural transmission of the taste for fairness

Abstract

Departing from mainstream economics, surveys rst show that individuals do care about fairness in their demand for redistribution. They also show that the cultural environment in which individuals grow up a¤ects heir preferences about redistribution. Including these two components of the demand for redistribution, we propose in this article a mechanism of cultural transmission of the taste for fairness. Consistently with the process of socialization, the young preferences depend on collective choices through observation and imitation. Observation during childhood of redistributive policies far from what is perceived as fair results then in a lower taste for fairness. As a consequence, the model exhibits a multiplicity of history- dependent steady states which may account for the huge di¤erence of redistribution observed between Europe and the United States.