Inequality aversion

The preference for fairness and equality within a social structure is referred to as inequality aversion (English: Inequity Aversion). Research disciplines such as sociology , economics , psychology , anthropology and ethology deal with the topic .

history

The study of inequality aversion began around 1978, when studies showed that people are sensitive to both negative and positive inequalities and tend to compensate when receiving rewards that they consider undeserved.

Ernst Fehr and Klaus M. Schmidt later assumed that the inequality aversion in people is mainly reflected in the tendency to prevent other people from receiving a higher (unjust) reward, even if they accept a reduction in their own profit opportunities. According to their arguments, this apparently self-harming behavior is important in creating an environment in which bilateral negotiations are possible. Without the rejection of unfair distribution due to inequality aversion, stable cooperation would be more difficult to achieve (for example, people who bet on their own optimal profit would have better chances, see the free rider problem ).

research

Experimental Economics

The inequality aversion largely corresponds to the behavior observed in various experiments in the field of experimental economics . In the dictator game, for example, one participant decides how a reward will be shared between him and the other participant. Significantly more than 50% of the participants decide to give up at least part of the possible profit. In the ultimatum game , the dictator game is expanded to include the rule that the receiving participant can veto; in this case both participants receive nothing. Receiving participants usually veto a low share of the total profit, so they prefer to receive nothing rather than little if the other side also has a loss as a result.

In 2005 John List modified these experiments; he wanted to check whether the structure of the games had a "positive" influence on the behavior of the participants, so to speak. When he gave participants the option to "take" their share from other participants by performing certain tasks, the observed altruism effect disappeared completely.

Corporate studies

In employee surveys, inequality aversion was identified as an important factor; Employees compare salary and performance with that of their employees. Where such a comparison leads to effects such as feelings of guilt or envy, employee morale can be damaged. According to studies, managers set up strict salary structures so that remuneration is viewed as fair in the internal assessment, in order to keep work ethic and performance at a high level.

In 2008, however, Pedro Rey-Biel showed that employers can achieve higher benefits for lower wage payments by introducing bonus systems instead of rigid wage structures.

Studies with animals

In experiments with capuchin monkeys , in which foods of various "values" were distributed as a reward for certain activities, Sarah Brosnan and Frans de Waal showed that test animals would rather receive nothing than a reward that was regarded as inferior to that of another test animal. Brosnan described your interpretation of the results as follows: "It looks like this behavior is evolved… it is not simply a cultural construct. There's some good evolutionary reason why we don't like being treated unfairly". Here, therefore, reference is made to a possibly biologically and evolutionarily conditioned "sense of fairness" in primates; however, this view is not undisputed. Recent studies suggest that dogs can also have a basic sense of fairness.

See also

• altruism
• Game theory

Web links

• Frans de Waals talks about "moral behavior" in animals
• "Monkeys Show Sense Of Fairness, Study Says" ( National Geographic , September 17, 2003).
• Sarah Brosnan's Emory University homepage listing her inequity research publications.
• Fehr & Schmidt's March 2005 response to Shaked's critique

Individual evidence

1. ↑ E. Fehr / KM Schmidt, A theory of fairness, competition, and cooperation, in: The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1999, No. 3, pp. 817-868
2. ↑ http://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/726/1/Fehr-Schmidt_Handbook_2005-Munichecon.pdf
3. ↑ http://rady.ucsd.edu/docs/faculty/EquityAversion.pdf
4. ↑ Bewley, T. (1999) Why wages don't fall during a Recession . Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-95241-3
5. ^ P. Rey-Biel: Inequity Aversion and Team Incentives . In: The Scandinavian Journal of Economics . 10, No. 2, June 2008, pp. 297-320. doi : 10.1111 / j.1467-9442.2008.00540.x .
6. ↑ Brosnan / de Waal, Monkeys reject unequal pay, in: Nature, Volume = 425, 2003, pages 297-9
7. ↑ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97944783