A Global Glimpse into How People Think About Inequality
After a decade of collaboration and research, a new working paper has been published that seeks to better understand how people across the world think about inequality. Based on experimental data from more than 65,000 individuals in 60 countries, the study offers rare global insight into how fairness, beliefs, and policy preferences are connected.
One of the main takeaways is that people’s views on inequality are shaped more by what they see as fair than by concerns about the cost of redistributing income. That is, whether or not inequality is seen as acceptable depends more on its perceived cause—such as luck or merit—than on how much it might cost to reduce it.
But views on fairness vary widely across countries. In some places, inequality that stems from individual effort or achievement is broadly accepted. In others, there’s greater skepticism about whether inequality can ever truly be fair, especially when luck or background play a large role. This variation speaks to deep differences in how people understand the social world and their place in it.
The study also finds that people around the world generally believe that luck plays a bigger role than merit in shaping life outcomes. At the same time, there is more disagreement when it comes to how redistribution affects the economy. Despite this, beliefs about fairness and the causes of inequality appear to have a stronger influence on people’s support for government redistribution than efficiency concerns do.
While these findings are unlikely to settle long-standing debates, they contribute important evidence to them. By highlighting the central role of fairness in shaping public attitudes, the paper invites a broader conversation about the values and assumptions that underlie economic policy in different contexts.
Bringing together voices from across the globe, the study underscores the diversity—and complexity—of human views on inequality. It also reminds us that understanding those views takes time, care, and a willingness to listen.