In:
American Economic Review, American Economic Association, Vol. 113, No. 9 ( 2023-09-01), p. 2458-2485
Abstract:
A main focus in economics is how to design optimal policies in second-best situations, which often requires a trade-off between giving some individuals more than they deserve, false positives, and others less than they deserve, false negatives. This paper provides novel evidence on people’s second-best fairness preferences from large-scale experimental studies in the United States and Norway. The majority of people are more concerned with false negatives than with false positives, but we document substantial heterogeneity in second-best fairness preferences between the countries and across the political spectrum. The findings shed light on the political economy of social insurance and redistribution. (JEL D63, D72, D78, H23, I38)
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0002-8282
DOI:
10.1257/aer.20211015
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Economic Association
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
203590-X
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2009979-4
