February 15, 2023
12:50 - 13:50
CORE - Room C035
François Maniquet (CORE) will present his ongoing research.
entitled "Social identity, downward comparisons and the just-world fallacy: A note on the social-psychological origins of economic inequality"
Abstract:
We study how inequality can stem from interactions that are neither economic (trade, production) nor political. We propose two models in which, prior to any interaction, individuals are identical, but the only stable equilibria involve inequality. Our key assumptions are inspired by well-established social-psychological theories. The driving force to inequality in the first model is individuals' need of building their social identity, and the resulting utility they derive from downward social comparisons. The driving force to inequality in the second model is the mental burden of being poor, which is augmented by the stigma emerging from interacting with the rich. This stigma emerges from this interaction as the response of the rich to the threat to their belief in the just-world hypothesis.