Cognitive Ability and the Demand for Redistribution

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorMollerstrom, Johanna
dc.contributor.authorSeim, David
dc.date.accessioned2015-09-16T15:53:44Z
dc.date.available2015-09-16T15:53:44Z
dc.date.issued2014-10-24
dc.description.abstractEmpirical research suggests that the cognitively able are politically more influential than the less able, by being more likely to vote and to assume leadership positions. This study asks whether this pattern matters for public policy by investigating what role a person's cognitive ability plays in determining his preferences for redistribution of income among citizens in society. To answer this question, we use a unique Swedish data set that matches responses to a tailor-made questionnaire to administrative tax records and to military enlistment records for men, with the latter containing a measure of cognitive ability. On a scale of 0 to 100 percent redistribution, a one-standard-deviation increase in cognitive ability reduces the willingness to redistribute by 5 percentage points, or by the same amount as a $35,000 increase in mean annual income. We find support for two channels mediating this economically strong and statistically significant relation. First, higher ability is associated with higher income. Second, ability is positively correlated with the view that economic success is the result of effort, rather than luck. Both these factors are, in turn, related to lower demand for redistribution
dc.description.sponsorshipFinancial support for this project is gratefully acknowledged from: the Ragnar Söderberg Foundation (http://ragnarsoderbergsstiftelse.se/, grant number: E56-10), Kungliga VetenskapsAkademin (http://www.kva.se/, grant number: FOA10H-172) and the Lab for Economics Applications and Policy at Harvard (http://leap.fas.harvard.edu/, grant number: 370 31890 017599 619701 0012 50963). Publication of this article was funded in part by the George Mason University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund
dc.identifier.citationMollerstrom J, Seim D (2014) Cognitive Ability and the Demand for Redistribution. PLoS ONE 9(10): e109955. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0109955
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109955
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1920/9888
dc.publisherPublic Library of Science
dc.rightsAttribution 3.0 United States
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
dc.subjectCognition

dc.subjectSurveys
dc.subjectAltruistic behavior

dc.subjectSchools
dc.subjectSweden
dc.subjectDemography

dc.subjectEducational attainment

dc.subjectQuestionnaires
dc.titleCognitive Ability and the Demand for Redistribution
dc.typeArticle

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
2014-10-024- Mollerstrom-Article.pdf
Size:
272.01 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.63 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Recipients of OA Publishing Fund
Publications, Department of Economics