eprintid: 10129857
rev_number: 32
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/10/12/98/57
datestamp: 2021-06-21 10:41:49
lastmod: 2023-06-15 10:34:29
status_changed: 2021-06-21 10:41:49
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Barnes, L
title: Taxing the rich: public preferences and public understanding
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B03
divisions: C03
divisions: F30
keywords: Ideas, public opinion, taxation
note: Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
abstract: Who supports high taxes on the rich? Existing accounts of public attitudes focus on egalitarian values and material interests, but make little mention of the ideas people hold about how the economy works descriptively. Drawing on the distinction between positive- and zero-sum beliefs about the economy, and original survey data from five countries, I show that there are systematic differences in tax progressivity preferences across groups within the public who think differently about the economy. Positive-sum thinking is associated with less progressive preferences. However, despite theoretical attention, there is no evidence of systematic zero-sum thinking among the public. On the other hand, some descriptions focus on conflict between rich and poor, and these do predict support for greater progressivity. Further analysis is required to differentiate alternative causal explanations of the patterns observed, but different modes of descriptive economic thinking are an important feature of the mass politics of progressivity.
date: 2022
date_type: published
publisher: Taylor & Francis
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2021.1992485
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1871554
doi: 10.1080/13501763.2021.1992485
lyricists_name: Barnes, Lucy
lyricists_id: LBARN13
actors_name: Dewerpe, Marie
actors_id: MDDEW97
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Journal of European Public Policy
volume: 29
number: 5
pagerange: 787-804
citation:        Barnes, L;      (2022)    Taxing the rich: public preferences and public understanding.                   Journal of European Public Policy , 29  (5)   pp. 787-804.    10.1080/13501763.2021.1992485 <https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2021.1992485>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10129857/10/Barnes_Taxing%20the%20rich%20public%20preferences%20and%20public%20understanding.pdf