Experimental Evidence on Attitudes Toward Inequality and Fairness

Many of our everyday life experiences suggest that humans are social individuals who care about themselves and others. Yet, for a long time, the economic discipline has focused on modeling the purely self-interested homo economicus. In this review, we summarize the extensive experimental literature on deviations from such purely self-interested behavior, with a particular focus on attitudes toward inequality and fairness. This literature shows that many individuals are willing to forgo their own economic gain for a fairer distribution of resources. We further illustrate empirical evidence showing that people differ in what they consider to be fair and discuss how these fairness views vary within and across countries.