Inequality and fairness with heterogeneous endowments

Milena Tsvetkova; Oana Vuculescu; Petar Dinev; Jacob Sherson; Claudia Wagner

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0276864

Inequality and fairness with heterogeneous endowments

Milena Tsvetkova^*, Oana Vuculescu, Petar Dinev, Jacob Sherson, Claudia Wagner

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Abstract

People differ in intelligence, cognitive ability, personality traits, motivation, and similar valued and, to a large degree, inherited characteristics that determine success and achievements. When does individual heterogeneity lead to a fair distribution of rewards and outcomes? Here, we develop this question theoretically and then test it experimentally for a set of structural conditions in a specific interaction situation. We first catalogue the functional relationship between individual endowments and outcomes to distinguish between fairness concepts such as meritocracy, equality of opportunity, equality of outcomes, and Rawl’s theory of justice. We then use an online experiment to study which of these fairness patterns emerge when differently endowed individuals can share their resources with others, depending on whether information about others’ endowments and outcomes is available. We find that while visible outcomes lessen inequality by decreasing the statistical dispersion of outcomes across the group, endowments need to be visible for better equality of opportunity for the most disadvantaged.

Original language	English
Article number	e0276864
Journal	PLOS ONE
Volume	17
Issue	10
Number of pages	24
ISSN	1932-6203
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276864
Publication status	Published - Oct 2022

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Tsvetkova_2022_Inequality_and_fairness_with_heterogeneousFinal published version, 1.04 MBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Inequality and fairness with heterogeneous endowments",

abstract = "People differ in intelligence, cognitive ability, personality traits, motivation, and similar valued and, to a large degree, inherited characteristics that determine success and achievements. When does individual heterogeneity lead to a fair distribution of rewards and outcomes? Here, we develop this question theoretically and then test it experimentally for a set of structural conditions in a specific interaction situation. We first catalogue the functional relationship between individual endowments and outcomes to distinguish between fairness concepts such as meritocracy, equality of opportunity, equality of outcomes, and Rawl{\textquoteright}s theory of justice. We then use an online experiment to study which of these fairness patterns emerge when differently endowed individuals can share their resources with others, depending on whether information about others{\textquoteright} endowments and outcomes is available. We find that while visible outcomes lessen inequality by decreasing the statistical dispersion of outcomes across the group, endowments need to be visible for better equality of opportunity for the most disadvantaged.",

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AU - Tsvetkova, Milena

AU - Vuculescu, Oana

AU - Dinev, Petar

AU - Sherson, Jacob

AU - Wagner, Claudia

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Inequality and fairness with heterogeneous endowments

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