The Political Psychology of Redistribution

Abstract

Welfare economics suggests that the tax system is the appropriate place to effect redistribution from those with more command over material resources to those with less: in short, to serve "equity." Society should set other mechanisms of private and public law, including public finance systems, to maximize welfare: in short, to serve "efficiency." The populace, however, may not always accept first-best policies. Perspectives from cognitive psychology suggest that ordinary citizens react to the purely formal means by which social policies are implemented, and thus may reject welfare-improving reforms.

This Article sets out the general background of the problem. We present the results of original experiments that confirm that the means of implementing redistribution affect its acceptability. Effects range from such seemingly trivial matters as whether tax burdens are discussed in dollars or in percentage terms, to more substantial matters such as how many different individual taxes there are, whether the burden of taxes is transparent, and the nature and level of the public provision of goods and services. The findings suggest a deep and problematic tension between the goals of equity and efficiency in public finance.

About the Author

Edward J. McCaffery is a Robert C. Packard Trustee Professor in Law and Political Science, University of Southern California Law School, Visiting Professor of Law and Economics, California Institute of Technology. Jonathan Baron is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.|Edward J. McCaffery is a Robert C. Packard Trustee Professor in Law and Political Science, University of Southern California Law School, Visiting Professor of Law and Economics, California Institute of Technology. Jonathan Baron is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.

By uclalaw