Workplace Risk Exposure Fuels Support for Redistribution

• In Event: Public Opinion on Tax and Redistribution

Abstract

Understanding the determinants of individual-level preferences for redistribution is one of the fundamental questions for political science. Traditional accounts indicate that risks at the occupational or industry level are important causes of redistributional preferences. In this paper, I examine whether workplace risk exposure – a related but much stronger signal about the risk of future unemployment – shapes attitudes toward redistribution. Linking novel data tapping the official proportion of coworkers becoming unemployed from one year to the next with a three-wave panel survey, I confront common theoretical and methodological challenges in existing work. Preliminary findings show that citizens rely on cues about the risk of future unemployment from their workplace when forming attitudes toward redistribution. Furthermore, I provide evidence that higher levels of workplace risks not only fuel support for redistribution, it also makes workers more likely to enter an unemployment insurance fund to avoid future income losses.

Author

• Matias Engdal Christensen, Aarhus University