Replication data for: Intergenerational Mobility and Preferences for Redistribution

Using new cross-country survey and experimental data, we investigate how beliefs about intergenerational mobility affect preferences for redistribution in France, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Americans are more optimistic than Europeans about social mobility. Our randomized treatment shows pessimistic information about mobility and increases support for redistribution, mostly for "equality of opportunity" policies. We find strong political polarization. Left-wing respondents are more pessimistic about mobility: their preferences for redistribution are correlated with their mobility perceptions; and they support more redistribution after seeing pessimistic information. None of this is true for right-wing respondents, possibly because they see the government as a "problem" and not as the "solution".

本研究依托全新的跨国调查与实验数据，探究法国、意大利、瑞典、英国及美国五国民众对代际流动（intergenerational mobility）的认知如何影响其再分配政策偏好。相较于欧洲民众，美国民众对社会流动的态度更为乐观。本研究设置的随机干预实验显示，向受访者提供关于流动现状的悲观信息后，民众对再分配政策的支持率显著上升，其中尤以「机会平等」类政策的支持增幅最为突出。研究发现了显著的政治极化现象：左翼受访者对代际流动的认知更为悲观，其再分配政策偏好与其对流动的感知高度相关，且在接收悲观信息后，他们对再分配政策的支持意愿进一步提升；而右翼受访者则完全不存在上述关联，这可能是因为他们将政府视为问题的根源而非解决方案。