Working Paper: NBER ID: w12371
Authors: Jacob L. Vigdor
Abstract: Why do voters at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum support political candidates who generally disfavor redistributive policies? Existing explanations often presume that voters are explicitly acting in opposition to their economic self-interest, or that they hold persistently optimistic expectations regarding the probability of moving into the upper ranks of the income distribution. This paper provides an alternative economic explanation. When voters evaluate their well-being by making relative utility comparisons, support for redistribution depends not only on absolute income but on one's status relative to a reference group. When reference groups are defined geographically, support depends on exposure to higher-income neighbors. The predictions of the model are supported by empirical evidence drawn from county-level election returns in 1980 and 2000, and by individual-level polling data following the 2000 election.
Keywords: Redistribution; Voter Behavior; Income Inequality
JEL Codes: D31; D72; H31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| socioeconomic heterogeneity of local communities (R23) | support for redistribution (H23) |
| low-income voters (K16) | support for redistributive policies in heterogeneous communities (H23) |
| moderate-income voters (D72) | support for redistributive candidates as income composition rises (H23) |
| high-income voters' exposure to poorer neighbors (I24) | tendency to vote altruistically (D64) |
| lower-income households as reference group (R20) | support for Democratic candidates (D79) |
| income homogeneity (D31) | support for redistributive policies (H23) |