Culture, Context, and the Taste for Redistribution / Erzo F.P. Luttmer, Monica Singhal.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Luttmer, Erzo F.P.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Singhal, Monica.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w14268.

NBER working paper series no. w14268

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2008.

Summary:

Is culture an important determinant of preferences for redistribution? To separate the effect of culture from the effect of the economic and institutional environment ("context"), we relate immigrants' preferences for redistribution to the average preference in their birth countries, controlling extensively for individual characteristics and country-of-residence fixed effects. We find a strong positive relationship. This cultural effect is larger for non-voters, those with shorter tenure in the country of residence, and those who move to countries with a large number of immigrants from their own birth countries. Immigrants from countries with a higher preference for redistribution are also more likely to vote for a more pro-redistribution political party. The effect of culture persists strongly into the second generation.

Notes:

Print version record

August 2008.