Academic from the Department of Economics of the FAE was awarded the Fondecyt of Initiation that will study aversion to inequality in Chile

Dr. Alejandra Vásquez explained that the objectives of the work are to study the interaction between individual and social preferences, mapping the causes of discontent in Chilean society and contributing to a better understanding of the role played by inequality, estimating the parameter of aversion to inequality with a sample in Chile and explore the differences in their levels by socioeconomic group.

Valentina del Campo, USACh Communications.- The academic from the Department of Economics of the Faculty of Administration and Economics of the University of Santiago de Chile, Dr. Alejandra Vásquez, was awarded an Initiation Fondecyt, with which she will work for the next three years examining the interaction between individual preferences and to analyze the degree and socioeconomic determinants of aversion to inequality in the country and its influence on pro-social behavior.

Dr. Vásquez conducts research in the areas of Experimental Economics and Behavioral Economics. She is interested in studying how humans make decisions and interact with others. Her work focuses on the study of social preferences, empathy, conscious consumer choices, well-being, and social dilemmas.

It is in this context of its development that the PhD in Economics, Doctor Europaeus from the Cagliari University of Italy, explained that a large number of empirical evidence showing that individuals are averse to income inequality. “Behavioral economics proposes an alternative model to the «homo-economicus» selfish and optimistic. This model is characterized by aversion to inequality both advantageous (those who earn above average), and disadvantageous (those who earn below average)”, added the academic.

In his opinion, inequality is a phenomenon with multiple edges that manifests itself in different areas. Given the polysemy of the term, its everyday use may lack precision and consistency.

“According to Starmans, contemporary political discourse confuses inequality with other social phenomena such as poverty and injustice”, he pointed out. It is for this reason that this research has as objectives: study the interaction between individual and social preferences, mapping the causes of discontent in Chilean society and contributing to a better understanding of the role played by inequality.

Along with that, it is intended estimate the inequality aversion parameter with a sample in Chile and explore the differences in its levels by socioeconomic group.

Finally, you want to assess whether perceived socioeconomic inequalities influence prosocial behavior and what is the mediating role of empathy and procedural justice beliefs.

For this, the academic from the Department of Economics of the FAE, will test hypotheses such as that “people experience dissatisfaction not only due to their own economic situation (individual preference), but also as a result of the degree of inequality in society (social preference )”.

Another of the hypotheses that Dr. Vásquez will work on is that low-income individuals perceive higher levels of aversion to socioeconomic inequality than high-income individuals and finally that perceived socioeconomic inequalities affect prosocial behavior through Mediating role of beliefs about procedural justice and levels of empathy.

“He The nature of this research is interdisciplinary, it has DNA in dialogue with the most recent scientific advances of: Economic Theory, Social and Neuroscientific Sciences. Mixed methods of analysis will be used, both qualitative, quantitative and experimental. if we want to study human decision making, it is necessary to have a 360-degree analysis approach, overcoming partialities and reductionisms”, added Dr. Vásquez.

This project – remarked the academic – has the purpose of positioning and making visible our University, Faculty and therefore the Department of Economics, aspiring to generate interdisciplinary dialogues of reflection with researchers in Chile and other countries.