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Unconditional basic income and social preferences: some evidence from the lab

Author

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  • Eva Jacob
  • Herrade Igersheim
  • Magali Jaoul-Grammare

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to experimentally analyze the assumed links between individuals’ social preferences and their support for a basic income, based on three possible types of preferences: efficiency-oriented, egalitarian, and maximin. To this end, we designed an original experimental protocol at the intersection of two strands of literature: one well-established, dealing with social preferences, and the other more recent and still emerging, focused on basic income. Our experiment yields two main findings. First, participants identified as having maximin-type social preferences significantly tend to choose a distribution including a basic income. Second, participants identified as efficiency-oriented or egalitarian deviate from their usual preference type in favor of the basic income whenever it provides a maximin type distribution. These two results clearly support a justification of basic income in maximin terms, thus following the theoretical argument put forward by Van Parijs.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva Jacob & Herrade Igersheim & Magali Jaoul-Grammare, 2025. "Unconditional basic income and social preferences: some evidence from the lab," Working Papers of BETA 2025-46, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2025-46
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    File URL: http://beta.u-strasbg.fr/WP/2025/2025-46.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    JEL classification:

    • B2 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925
    • B4 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • P4 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems

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