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When Income Depends on Performance and Luck: The Effects of Culture and Information on Giving

In: Experimental Economics and Culture

Author

Listed:
  • Pedro Rey-Biel
  • Roman Sheremeta
  • Neslihan Uler

Abstract

We study how giving depends on income and luck, and how culture and information about the determinants of others’ income affect this relationship. Our data come from an experiment conducted in two countries, the USA and Spain – each of which have different beliefs about how income inequality arises. We find that when individuals are informed about the determinants of income, there are no cross-cultural differences in giving. When uninformed, however, Americans give less than the Spanish. This difference persists even after controlling for beliefs, personal characteristics, and values.

Suggested Citation

  • Pedro Rey-Biel & Roman Sheremeta & Neslihan Uler, 2018. "When Income Depends on Performance and Luck: The Effects of Culture and Information on Giving," Research in Experimental Economics, in: Experimental Economics and Culture, volume 20, pages 167-203, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:rexezz:s0193-230620180000020006
    DOI: 10.1108/S0193-230620180000020006
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    1. When Income Depends on Performance and Luck: The Effects of Culture and Information on Giving By: Pedro Rey-Biel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Barcelona GSE) ; Roman Sheremeta (Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University
      by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2015-06-23 00:01:22

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Vanessa Valero, 2022. "Redistribution and beliefs about the source of income inequality," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(3), pages 876-901, June.
    2. Laura K. Gee & Marco Migueis & Sahar Parsa, 2017. "Redistributive choices and increasing income inequality: experimental evidence for income as a signal of deservingness," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 20(4), pages 894-923, December.
    3. Nisvan Erkal & Lata Gangadharan & Boon Han Koh, 2018. "By chance or by choice? Biased attribution of others’ outcomes," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 2040, The University of Melbourne.
    4. Lléo-Bono, A., 2025. "Social Value Orientation and Unequal Productivity: Optimizing Collaboration in the Workplace," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2555, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    5. Nina Weber, 2021. "Experience and Perception of Social Mobility - a Cross-Country Test of the Self-Serving Bias," LIS Working papers 783, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    6. Jared Rubin & Roman Sheremeta, 2016. "Principal–Agent Settings with Random Shocks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(4), pages 985-999, April.
    7. Roman M. Sheremeta & Neslihan Uler, 2021. "The impact of taxes and wasteful government spending on giving," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 24(2), pages 355-386, June.
    8. Yamamura, Eiji & Tsutsui, Yoshiro & Ohtake, Fumio, 2018. "Altruistic and selfish motivations of charitable giving: The case of the hometown tax donation system (Furusato nozei) in Japan," MPRA Paper 86181, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Schwaiger, Rene & Huber, Jürgen & Kirchler, Michael & Kleinlercher, Daniel & Weitzel, Utz, 2022. "Unequal opportunities, social groups, and redistribution: Evidence from Germany," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    10. Konow, James & Saijo, Tatsuyoshi & Akai, Kenju, 2020. "Equity versus equality: Spectators, stakeholders and groups," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    11. Nina Weber, 2023. "Prosocial Risk-Taking: Growing the Pie or Increasing your Slice?," ifo Working Paper Series 399, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    12. Grimalda, Gianluca & Farina, Francesco & Schmidt, Ulrich, 2018. "Preferences for redistribution in the US, Italy, Norway: An experiment study," Kiel Working Papers 2099, Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
    13. Konow, James & Saijo, Tatsuyoshi & Akai, Kenju, 2016. "Equity versus Equality," MPRA Paper 75376, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Gürdal, Mehmet Y. & Torul, Orhan & Vostroknutov, Alexander, 2020. "Norm compliance, enforcement, and the survival of redistributive institutions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 313-326.
    15. Reindl, Ilona & Tyran, Jean-Robert, 2021. "Equal opportunities for all? How income redistribution promotes support for economic inclusion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 390-407.
    16. Mercer, Antonio Carlos & Póvoa, Angela Cristiane Santos & Pech, Wesley, 2021. "The effect of luck framing on distributional preferences," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(4), pages 320-329.
    17. Fehr, Dietmar, 2018. "Is increasing inequality harmful? Experimental evidence," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 123-134.
    18. Nisvan Erkal & Lata Gangadharan & Boon Han Koh, 2022. "By chance or by choice? Biased attribution of others’ outcomes when social preferences matter," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(2), pages 413-443, April.
    19. Vanessa Valero, 2021. "Redistribution and beliefs about the source of income inequality," Post-Print hal-04739469, HAL.
    20. Clingingsmith, David & Sheremeta, Roman M, 2017. "Status and Economic Rent: Experimental Evidence on the Matthew Effect," SocArXiv evwpa, Center for Open Science.
    21. Cotofan, Maria & Matakos, Konstantinos, 2025. "Recurring labour market shocks and stated and revealed preferences for redistribution," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    22. Strang, Louis & Schaube, Sebastian, 2025. "(Not) Everyone can be a winner — The role of payoff interdependence for redistribution," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    23. Gerald Eisenkopf, 2018. "Unequal Incentives and Perceived Fairness in Groups," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-18, September.
    24. Bigoni, Maria & Fabbri, Marco, 2021. "How Property Shapes Distributional Preferences," CEPR Discussion Papers 16405, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    25. Jain, Prachi & Lay, Margaret J., 2021. "Are informal transfers driven by strategic risk-sharing or fairness? Evidence from an experiment in Kenya," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 186-196.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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