We study in the laboratory how people's preferences for redistribution change with the level of income inequality, income mobility, uncertainty of initial income positions, and source of income (random or real-effort based). We find that uncertainty and overconfidence undermine the demand for...

We experimentally investigate subjects’ preferences for redistribution depending on i) their personal stake in the outcome (either absent or not), ii) the effect of luck in strengthening or weakening the income inequality as derived from merit, and iii) whether individuals are informed about...

We experimentally investigate subjects’ preferences for redistribution depending on i) their personal stake in the outcome (either absent or not), ii) the effect of luck in strengthening or weakening the income inequality as derived from merit, and iii) whether individuals are informed about...

We generate observable expectations about fiscal variables through laboratory experiments using real world data from several European countries as stimuli. We compare a VAR model of expectations for data which is presented in a fiscal frame with one for neutrally presented data. We find that...

We study experiments of an overlapping generations model where inflation is determined by the monetary policy and by the amount of average saving within each period. We use a new experimental setup that allows us to observe more details of the process of formation of expectations and separate...

To understand the effect of fiscal policy on the private sector we have to comprehend how expectations about fiscal variables are formed. However, little is known about the way people form expectations about fiscal variables: no undercutting theory exists, not to say empirical evidence. The...

This article classifies three classes of generalized.expected utility preferences according to the justifications for the independence axiom and for the reduction principle that they subscribe to or reject. The results of an experiment designed to test the three classes show that some...

Between 1995 and 1999, Italy experienced three episodes of fiscal reform during which different categories of non-debt tax shields were introduced, including a classical investment tax credit, a system of dual income taxation, and an investment tax credit restricted to equity financed...

Using cumulative prospect theory as a notable example of reference-dependent preference, we revisit the basic portfolio model of tax evasion. We show that some controversial implications of the standard expected-utility theory, including that of a negative relationship between tax rates and...