Economic Recessions and Congressional Preferences for Redistribution
研究发现，美国国会议员如果在青年时期经历过经济衰退，会在再分配法案上持更保守的立场，甚至比同党议员更保守，这可能与议员更优越的背景有关。
Abstract We study if U.S. Members of Congress who experienced an economic recession during early adulthood vote differently on redistribution-specific bills. We find that politicians who experienced a recession hold more conservative positions on redistribution, even compared to members of the same party. In light of recent empirical evidence showing that voters become more supportive of redistribution following a recession, our findings suggest that macroeconomic shocks might have a polarizing effect: recessions can create an ideological wedge between voters and their future representatives. We hypothesize and present evidence suggesting that this wedge might be explained by politicians' more privileged background.