The Altruistic Rich? Inequality and Other-Regarding Preferences for Redistribution

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Duke University. I am also an associate member of Nuffield College, University of Oxford, and of CAGE, University of Warwick. My research interests lie at the boundary of political economy, political behavior, and political sociology.

My work aims to further our understanding of the sources and consequences of economic and political inequality in advanced industrialized societies. Regarding sources of inequality, I am studying how economic and social conditions shape the preferences of individuals for large-scale social programs designed to ameliorate the unequal distribution of resources. I consider both the role of individual characteristics, such as religion, as well as contextual characteristics, such as population heterogeneity. Regarding consequences of inequality, I study how income inequality translates into political inequality, for example, when elected representatives create laws more in line with the interests of the rich than the poor. In this context, I am most interested in how social groups, such as labor unions, can affect unequal representation.