American exceptionalism? Differences in the elasticity of preferences for redistribution between the United States and Western Europe

Abstract

We examine whether variation in preferences for redistribution between the United States and Western Europe can be explained by inaccurate beliefs about the extent to which differences in people’s wealth are due to factors outside of their control. To do this, we conduct a randomized survey experiment with over 8000 respondents in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, half of which receive accurate information about both wealth inequality and intergenerational mobility in their country. This information increased support for economic redistribution in Western Europe, but had the opposite effect in the United States. The negative treatment effect was primarily driven by Americans who held a prior belief that high levels of inequality do not exist. Our findings illustrate substantial differences in the elasticity of people’s support for economic redistribution across the Atlantic and that efforts to correct inaccurate beliefs about inequality and mobility can backfire.