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Perceptions of inequality

Perceptions of Inequality

This III research programme examines perceptions of inequality and distributions across many domains of life – including income, health, and education. The programme aims to contribute world-class empirical and methodological research on inequality preferences, attitudes, and perceptions, as well as their drivers.

Perceptions of the extent and causes of inequalities are vitally important to the functioning of societies, economies and politics. If the public thinks that inequalities are large and [...] unfair this can undermine faith in political and economic systems as a whole.

Benson, R., Duffy, B., Hesketh, R. and Hewlett, K. (2021), ‘Attitudes to inequalities’

The Programme is led by Professors Frank Cowell and Joan Costa-Font. Jakob Dirksen is the Programme’s Principal Researcher.

The programme focuses on research themes and questions that concern perceptions of, and attitudes towards, the diverse forms of inequality - such as income, health, and education. Members of the research programme are involved in the study of distributional values and preferences, including behavioural determinants that can explain differences in inequality preferences across societies and social groups.  

The programme’s research agenda includes applied empirical work to advance our understanding of perceptions of inequality and their potential explanations. This is based on indicators of individual attitudes and behaviours, such as interpersonal trust, social identity, ideology, poverty aversion, social cues, reference points, and the fear of being last.

The programme’s members study, for example, the sensitivity of perceptions and attitudes toward inequality to the presence or absence of absolute poverty and deprivation as well as socio-economic mobility – and who exactly is affected by these.

Moreover, of particular interest are well-documented, but less well-explained, gender differences in inequality aversion, including gender effects on risk perceptions and attitudes, trust and pro-social behaviours, locus of control, and time preferences, as well as other behavioural determinants (empathy, guilt, shame, etc). It is thereby also committed to an explicitly intersectional approach that considers additional self-identified reference groups.

The programme also makes methodological contributions that help compare and identify the best techniques to elicit individual and collective perceptions, preferences, and attitudes - spanning experimental methods from psychology, economics, and behavioural science, as well as the use of quantitative and qualitative surveys, and observational techniques from the social sciences.

Members

Frank Cowell, Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, LSE

Joan Costa-Font, Professor of Health Economics, Department of Health Policy, LSE 

Jakob Dirksen, Analysing and Challenging Inequalities Scholar, International Inequalities Institute, Department of Social Policy, and CASE/STICERD, LSE & Research and Policy Officer, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, Department of International Development, University of Oxford 

The research programme’s additional academic core members are:

Ingvild Almås, Professor of Economics, Institute for International Economic Studies, Stockholm University.

Conchita d’Ambrosio, Professor of Economics, Université du Luxembourg

Miqdad Asaria, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Policy, LSE

Tania Burchardt, Associate Professor, Department of Social Policy, Associate Director, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion and Deputy Director of STICERD, LSE

Liema Davidovitz, Senior Lecturer, Ruppin Institute

Koen Decancq, Professor, University of Antwerp and Research Fellow, CPNSS, LSE

Matteo Galizzi, Associate Professor of Behavioural Science, Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, LSE

H. Xavier Jara, Assistant Professorial Research Fellow, International Inequalities Institute

Philippe Van Kerm, Professor of Social Inequality and Social Policy, Department of Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg 

Nora Lustig, Samuel Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Economics and Director of the Commitment to Equity Institute, Tulane University

Franoçis Maniquet, Professor of Economics, UC Louvain and Senior Research Scientist, Luxembourg Institute for Socio-Economic Research

Javier Olivera, Professor of Economics, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Peru, National Bank of Belgium, and Luxembourg Institute for Socio-Economic Research

Melissa Sands, Assistant Professor of Politics and Data Science, Department of Government, LSE

Erik Schokkaert, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven

Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington, Associate Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, LSE

Denisa Sologon, Senior Research Scientist, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research

Alan Trannoy, Research Director, EHESS, Aix-Marseille Université

PhD Affiliates:

Chloé de Meulenaer, PhD Student, Department of Economics, LSE

James Zuo, PhD Student, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Research Assistants:

Queena Chong

Hannah Heppner

Publications

Costa-Font, Joan and Cowell, Frank (2024) Specific egalitarianism? Inequality aversion across domains. III Working Paper (142). International Inequalities Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Chong, Queena, Costa-Font, Joan, Cowell, Frank and Dirksen, Jakob (2024) Did inequality shape the Brexit vote? LSE Inequalities,18 December. International Inequalities Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science. 

Events

Call for papers - International Workshop on Perceptions of Inequality
Tuesday 20 May 2025

The Perceptions of Inequality Research Programme at the International Inequalities Institute at LSE is delighted to announce an in-person workshop on perceptions of inequality, taking place on 20 May 2025 at LSE. 

We are accepting extended abstracts or full papers on any aspects of perceptions of inequality.

Deadline for the submission of papers or extended abstracts is 15 February 2025.

Papers that are presented at the workshop will be considered for inclusion in a special issue of the Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization.

In case of any questions, please email j.t.dirksen@lse.ac.uk

PhD & ECR Visiting Programme

The Perceptions of Inequality Research Programme at the International Inequalities Institute (III) of the London School of Economics and Political Science invites research students and early career researchers from other universities to spend up to one academic term at the School.

This visiting period aims to assist doctoral and post-doctoral researchers in their own research, granting them temporary access to the facilities and supervision offered by the III as well as establishing a network of academic contacts within the field of Inequality Studies.

The Perceptions of Inequality Research Programme is led by Professor Frank Cowell (Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Programme), Professor Joan Costa-i-Font (Professor of Health Economics and Co-Director of the Programme), and Jakob Dirksen (Analysing and Challenging Inequalities Scholar at the III and Principal Researcher of the Programme), and involves many academic core members with shared research interests and expertise around perceptions of inequality.

Prospective Visiting Researchers are asked to submit an email to j.t.dirksen@lse.ac.uk containing the following items:

1. CV.

2. Any relevant completion certificates or transcripts for undergraduate or graduate degrees previously obtained.

3. A brief statement of purpose for the research visit, not to exceed 1,200 words. This should include the topic of work to be undertaken while at the III and specify the period proposed for the visit (please take into account the LSE’s term dates).

4. Two academic reference letters.

5. A sample of written work (e.g. a publication, working paper, or thesis chapter).

6. Proposed dates of stay.

The PoI Programme members will regularly review submissions and may invite up to 2 candidates per academic term, depending on fit and availability.

Successful candidates may be eligible to receive up to £500 to cover travel costs and (where applicable) financial support to cover tuition fees.

 

Additional information for current PhD candidates:

For current PhD candidates, visiting the III is conditional on being accepted as Visiting Research Students by the Social Policy Department at LSE. Although the visiting programme at the Social Policy Department is a distinct process and we cannot guarantee that the selected candidate will be accepted by the Social Policy Department, the III will support the candidate’s application.

See this link for more details: https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/graduate/vrs-social-policy.

Our Visiting PhD Grant may cover up to £2,500 per term. This amount will cover tuition fees for the hosting Department (100£ per week) and up to £500 to cover travel costs. Please contact j.t.dirksen@lse.ac.uk for further clarifications on the application process.

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