Mariana Rodríguez Vivas es Magíster en Economía por la Universidad de la República (UdelaR, Uruguay) y es docente el Departamento de Economía de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración de la misma universidad. Forma parte de las líneas de investigación de Movilidad económica y preferencias sociales y de Dinámicas demográficas del Grupo de Desigualdad y Pobreza del Instituto de Economía (IECON-UdelaR). Sus temas de interés abarcan las preferencias por la redistribución, igualdad de oportunidades, segregación residencial, educación y migración.

Abstract: We design and conduct an experimental survey to understand how individuals compensate for different circumstances and the interaction between circumstances and effort. In this survey, participants assume the role of policy-makers. They face hypothetical scenarios where they must allocate money between two potential beneficiaries. These beneficiaries are equal in all their characteristics but differ on one silent attribute associated with a circumstance. Additionally, we randomly assigned some respondents to receive additional information about how the unfavorable circumstance reduces the effort decisions. As a second information treatment, we introduce a scenario in which we randomly assign whether a pure effort scenario appears at the beginning or end of the circumstances module. The survey is conducted with first-year university students in economics, social sciences, and engineering. We find that individuals are more willing to compensate for the difference in income when it arises from an invariant physical condition. The least effort is punished, although it is nuanced if circumstances condition it. Finally, we find that remembering the role of effort reduces the compensation for all unfavorable circumstances.

Autores: Elisa Failache, Martín Leites, Xavier Ramos, Mariana Rodríguez Vivas y Gonzalo Salas (IECON-UDELAR)

Organizan: Departamento de Economía, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Revista Económica

Contacto: iie@econo.unlp.edu.ar