Experimental Evidence that Info on COVID19-Induced Inequalities Inspires Concern

• In Event: Political Opinion During a Pandemic

Abstract

In recent decades, the general public in advanced economies has remained remarkably indifferent to steadily increasing economic inequality. But how does it respond to information on vast inequalities in times of crisis? We assess whether the provision of factual information about COVID-19-induced inequalities makes people more concerned and more supportive of income redistribution. An original survey experiment with a representative sample of the US population demonstrates that those exposed to an informational omnibus treatment express 1) more concerns over economic inequality, 2) stronger support for income redistribution, and 3) acknowledgement that the coronavirus has especially hurt the most vulnerable in society. Moreover, conditional treatment effects by partisanship reveal that our findings are especially pronounced among moderate Republicans whose concerns and support for redistribution, following the informational treatment, increase more strongly than that of any other partisan group. As a result, our informational treatment renders non-significant the partisan gap between moderate Democrats and Republicans. Thus, our findings suggest that an economic crisis can increase concerns over inequality among a uniformly informed public even in a country renowned for its tolerance of income differences. Moreover, it can produce a political moment in which the partisan gap between moderates wanes. It follows that the unbridgeable attitudinal gap on inequality issues is that between moderates and strong partisans, especially among Republicans.

Authors

• Jonathan Jan Benjamin Mijs, Erasmus University Rotterdam

• Willem de Koster, Erasmus University Rotterdam

• Jeroen van der Waal, Erasmus University Rotterdam