Narratives about Inequality

    14 January 2025

    LISS 2024. Authors: Magdalena Wasilewska, Thomas Douenne, Oda Sund (University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics and Business)

    Economic narratives—stories explaining economic phenomena—are gaining interest among economists, with research showing they impact beliefs, attention, and behaviours more than factual information. While inequality remains a salient societal issue, competing narratives about its causes coexist within society. The project investigates the causal impact of inequality narratives on policy preferences. In our experiment, respondents are presented with narratives offering different perspectives on inequality’s causes. We analyze how these narratives influence policy preferences and whether effects vary by respondents’ beliefs and characteristics. This enables us to investigate how individuals process information about inequality, informing effective policy communication and design.

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