American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Inequality Aversion, Efficiency, and Maximin Preferences in Simple Distribution Experiments
American Economic Review
vol. 94,
no. 4, September 2004
(pp. 857–869)
Abstract
We present simple one-shot distribution experiments comparing the relative importance of efficiency concerns, maximin preferences, and inequality aversion, as well as the relative performance of the fairness theories by Gary E Bolton and Axel Ockenfels and by Ernst Fehr and Klaus M. Schmidt. While the Fehr-Schmidt theory performs better in a direct comparison, this appears to be due to being in line with maximin preferences. More importantly, we find that a combination of efficiency concerns, maximin preferences, and selfishness can rationalize most of the data while the Bolton-Ockenfels and Fehr-Schmidt theories are unable to explain important patterns.Citation
Engelmann, Dirk, and Martin Strobel. 2004. "Inequality Aversion, Efficiency, and Maximin Preferences in Simple Distribution Experiments." American Economic Review, 94 (4): 857–869. DOI: 10.1257/0002828042002741Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
- D63 Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement