Working Paper: NBER ID: w30386
Authors: Juliana Londoño-Vélez
Abstract: Does diversity affect people’s perceptions of income distribution and their preferences for redistribution? I leverage variation from a Colombian financial aid reform boosting the share of low-income students at an elite university. Combining college records and original survey data, I study how diversity affects high-income students’ social networks, perceptions, and preferences by exploiting treatment variation across cohorts and majors using difference-in-differences. Exposure to low-income peers caused high-income students to diversify their social networks, have more accurate perceptions of the income distribution, and support progressive redistribution. My preferred interpretation is that diversity raised students’ concerns about (the lack of) equal opportunity.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: D31; D63; I22; I24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| exposure to low-income peers (I24) | diversification of high-income students' social networks (I24) |
| exposure to low-income peers (I24) | reduction in biased perceptions of income distribution (D31) |
| exposure to low-income peers (I24) | increase in support for progressive redistribution (P35) |
| exposure to low-income peers (I24) | increase in concerns about equal opportunity (I24) |