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Inequality, Fairness and Social Capital

Fehr, Dietmar ; Rau, Hannes ; Trautmann, Stefan T. ; Xu, Yilong

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Abstract

We study the impact of unjust inequality on social trust and trustworthiness, and its separate effect on the economically successful and the unsuccessful, in a controlled economic experiment. We find evidence for a negative effect of unfair economic inequality on social interactions. Probing the boundaries of this effect, we document that this erosion of social capital critically depends on the context: if a well-off person is not directly responsible for the outcome of the worse-off person, then we observe no negative effects on trust and trustworthiness in the aggregate. Moreover, our data do not support the view that higher status or wealth leads to an erosion of pro-social attitudes: the successful are always more generous; groups of unsuccessful persons are least efficient and least generous in the trust game.

Document type: Working paper
Series Name: Discussion Paper Series, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics
Volume: 0650
Place of Publication: Heidelberg
Date Deposited: 12 Jul 2018 06:16
Date: 10 July 2018
Number of Pages: 39
Faculties / Institutes: The Faculty of Economics and Social Studies > Alfred-Weber-Institut for Economics
DDC-classification: 330 Economics
Series: Discussion Paper Series / University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics
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