Income Inequality and Subjective Well-Being: Toward an Understanding of the Relationship and Its Mechanisms

Business and Society 57 (6):1010-1044 (2018)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Income inequality is emerging as the socioeconomic topic of our era. Yet there is no clear conclusion as to how income inequality affects the most comprehensive human outcome measure, subjective well-being. This study provides an explanation for the relationship between income inequality and SWB, by delving into its mechanisms, including egalitarian preferences, perceived fairness, social comparison concerns, as well as perceived social mobility. In a rigorous analysis using a large cross-country dataset, and accounting for the nested structure of the data, as well as controlling for a variety of individual and country characteristics, we find that SWB is higher where income inequality is higher. Importantly, we also find support for this relationship being moderated by perceptions of poverty being caused by unfairness, an individual’s relative socioeconomic standing, as well as beliefs about hard work leading to success. Our study highlights the dire need for further scholarly attention to income inequality and its complex effects on SWB.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,593

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Pricing Social Externalities: The Case of Income Inequality.Bryan W. Husted & José Salazar - 2013 - Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society 24:94-105.
Pricing Social Externalities: The Case of Income Inequality.Bryan W. Husted & José Salazar - 2013 - Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society 24:94-105.
Wealth and economic inequality.James B. Davies - 2009 - In Wiemer Salverda, Brian Nolan & Timothy M. Smeeding (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Economic Inequality. Oxford University Press.
Some problems in Piketty: An internal critique.Alan Tapper - 2016 - Journal of Income Distribution 25 (2-4):101-118.
Inequality, incentives, and opportunity.Donald R. Deere & Finis Welch - 2002 - Social Philosophy and Policy 19 (1):84-109.

Analytics

Added to PP
2018-06-06

Downloads
25 (#542,984)

6 months
4 (#319,344)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?