Why do people often distribute joint surplus in an egalitarian way even when the
payoffs for more productive people are lower than those distributed in a meritocratic
way? In particular, does a stationary state exist in which more productive people believe
in egalitarianism even when distaste for meritocracy decreases as meritocratic payoffs
increase? We extend the Bisin–Verdier model of cultural transmission to address these
questions and demonstrate that such a stationary state exists, but is stable only under
certain conditions. Therefore, the fractions of people believing in egalitarianism and
meritocracy may continue to fluctuate.
Belief in Egalitarianism and Meritocracy
EMS_2022_05
(174.9KB)
