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10 - Empirical Research on Ethical Preferences: How Popular is Prioritarianism?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2022

By
Erik Schokkaert  and
Benoît Tarroux
Edited by
Matthew D. Adler  and
Ole F. Norheim
Matthew D. Adler
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
Ole F. Norheim
Affiliation:
Universitetet i Bergen, Norway
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Summary

We survey the empirical literature on ethical preferences, covering both survey studies and incentivized laboratory experiments. Crucial axioms such as the Pigou-Dalton transfer principle are not accepted by a large fraction of the subjects. Moreover, in formulating their distributive preferences, subjects attach much importance to the sources of income differences. Their preferences behind a veil of ignorance do not coincide with their preferences in the position of a social planner. These results suggest that prioritarian policy proposals will not necessarily be supported by a majority of the population. Although the majority opinion does not necessarily reflect the ethically desirable perspective, the empirical results still raise some interesting normative challenges

Keywords

surveyslab experimentsdistributive preferencesprioritarianisminequality
Type
Chapter
Information
Prioritarianism in Practice , pp. 459 - 517
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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