Abstract

Income inequality affects substantive outcomes such as redistribution and voter turnout. Nevertheless, a country’s level of income inequality has a differential impact on citizens’ evaluation of the same because individuals have different normative values about inequality. This paper shifts the analytical focus from objective income inequality—commonly measured by the Gini ratio—to subjective dimensions of income inequality, namely individual tolerance for income inequality. Using the Philippines as a case, this paper argues that a country’s level of objective income inequality does not systematically affect a person’s level of tolerance for income inequality. This argument is counter-intuitive because most extant studies implicitly assume that a country’s level of income inequality affects a person’s values on the same. By focusing on a person’s redistributive preference, this paper also shows that subjective dimensions of income inequality can affect substantive outcomes.

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