Competition, Income Distribution and the Middle Class: An Experimental Study

Autor(en)

Bernhard Kittel, Fabian Paetzel, Stefan Traub

Abstrakt

We study the effect of competition on income distribution by means of a two-stage experiment. Heterogeneous endowments are earned in a contest, followed by a surplus-sharing task. The experimental test confirms our initial hypothesis that the existence of a middle class is as effective as institutional hurdles in limiting the power of the less able in order to protect the more able players from being expropriated. Furthermore, majoritarian voting with a middle class involves fewer bargaining impasses than granting veto rights to the more able players and, therefore, is more efficient.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Wirtschaftssoziologie

Externe Organisation(en)

Universität Bremen

Journal

Journal of Applied Mathematics

Band

2015

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/303912

Publikationsdatum

2015

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

504030 Wirtschaftssoziologie

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Applied Mathematics

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/competition-income-distribution-and-the-middle-class-an-experimental-study(9b621929-259b-4fff-b053-b496f71b4501).html