Abstract
Unequal financial outcomes often originate from unequal chances. Yet, compared to outcomes, little is known about how individuals perceive unequal distributions of chances. We investigate empirically the role of different sources of unequal chances in shaping perceptions of inequality. Importantly, we do so from an ex ante perspective — i.e., before the chances are realized — which has rarely been explored. In an online survey, we asked uninvolved respondents to evaluate ex ante the fairness of unequal allocations of chances. We varied the source of inequality of chances, using a comprehensive range of factors which resemble several real world situations. Respondents also evaluated how much control individuals hold over the distribution of chances. Results show that the source of inequality has considerable effects on the ex ante perception of fairness and control. Unequal chances based on socioeconomic and biological factors, such as gender, family income and ethnicity, are evaluated to be both unfair and beyond one’s control. Allocations based on factors judged to be under higher individual control, such as effort and knowledge, are perceived as fairer. Luck is the exception, ranking as high in fairness as effort and knowledge, but similarly low in individual control as ethnicity, family income, and gender.
Highlights
Unequal financial outcomes often originate from unequal chances
Unequal chances abound in the pursuit of financial rewards; erecting the landscape of the financial outcomes likely to be achieved by different groups of individuals
This study addresses a gap in the existing distributive fairness ideals literature regarding how individuals evaluate the ex ante fairness of distributions of chances based on different factors
Summary
Unequal financial outcomes often originate from unequal chances. Yet, compared to outcomes, little is known about how individuals perceive unequal distributions of chances. A striking recent study[1] reports that in the United States “controlling for parental income, black boys have lower incomes in adulthood than white boys in 99% of Census tracts.” Policies such as additional investments for low-income children, diversity quotas in firms, and Affirmative Action in university admissions strive to redress these uneven chances before they translate into unequal outcomes. We use a large set of factors, which include factors often serving as bases for unequal chances in society such as effort, knowledge, luck, gender, ethnicity, and family income Those factors are more comprehensive than those that the literature on fairness has employed, enabling a more fine-grained exploration of differences among a range of situations that can generate unequal chances. Those include r epugnance[8], psychological c ost[9], and indirect reciprocity[10], which we discuss in the Methods section
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