Redistributive choices and increasing income inequality: experimental evidence for income as a signal of deservingness
通过实验室实验，研究收入来源（运气或绩效）和不平等程度如何影响人们的再分配选择，发现绩效收入下不平等加剧对再分配意愿的影响更小，因为人们将收入差异视为应得性的信号。
Abstract We explore the relation between redistribution choices, source of income, and pre-redistribution inequality. Previous studies find that when income is earned through work there is less support for redistribution than when income is determined by luck. Using a lab experiment, we vary both the income-generating process (luck vs. performance) and the level of inequality (low vs. high). We find that an increase in inequality has less impact on redistribution choices when income is earned through performance than when income results from luck. This result is likely explained by individuals using income differences as a heuristic to infer relative deservingness. If people believe income inequality increases as a result of performance rather than luck, then they are likely to believe the poor deserve to stay poor and the rich deserve to stay rich.