(Un)Fair inequality in the labor market: A global study

“每个人类社会都必须为自己的不平等辩护：除非找到原因，否则整个政治和社会大厦都有倒塌的危险”--托马斯·皮克斯不同社会的公民如何看待不平等的公平性？回答这个问题是理解日益加剧的社会紧张局势的关键，也是制定政策以应对当前普遍存在的对现有经济和政治制度的不满的关键。公民可能认为不平等是不公平的原因有两个。首先，实际的不平等可能与他们的公平偏好不符，例如，人们可能不喜欢性别薪酬差距的程度，或者他们可能认为长时间工作的回报太低。其次，他们可能对实际的不平等有偏见，例如，人们可能高估了性别工资差距的大小，或者他们可能低估了工作时间对收入的影响。这些例子说明，理解公平观念需要深入了解公民的公平偏好以及他们对劳动力市场不同领域不平等的信念。然而，到目前为止，还没有统一的数据收集来整合这些要素，使我们能够衡量感知到的不公平，并在全球范围内了解其对社会的影响。因此，我们目前的知识要么是基于对人们公平偏好和不平等信念的强烈假设，要么是局限于单一国家的研究，无法考虑不同地理、文化和经济特征的国家之间认知的多样性。在我的FLF中，我将解决这一差距。我将领导一个利益相关者网络，包括普通公众、政策制定者和科学家，以确定劳动力市场不平等的领域，这些领域是公平认知的核心；收集有关全球50个国家关于劳动力市场不平等的偏好和信念的相应数据；并构建感知不公平的衡量标准，使我们能够评估感知到的不公平对重要社会结果的影响，这些结果是良好运行的社会的重要基石。在第1-4年，我将把我的FLF分为三个工作包(WPS)：WP1-制定一个衡量框架和相关调查模块，考虑到来自不同文化和经济背景的关键利益攸关方的意见(第1-2年)。WP2-收集关于50个国家的公平偏好和不平等信念的协调数据(包括。WP3-分析感知到的不公平及其对社会结果的影响，包括对民主的支持、对机构的信任和对公共政策的支持(3-4年)。在5-7年，我将以初步发现为基础，使用实地实验和政策改革的准实验变量来调查关于劳动力市场不平等不同领域的偏好和信念是否可以通过政策干预来改变。因此，我将为民间社会组织和政策制定者提供关于如何解决人们眼中的不公平和对当前经济体系的不满的重要见解。这一议程将增进我们对当今最广泛辩论的社会问题之一的理解：劳动力市场的不公平。我将在全球范围内分析这一现象，同时整合不同利益攸关方的观点。我的FLF结合了一个雄心勃勃的多学科研究计划，将产生一系列备受瞩目的期刊文章，并为我的专业发展提供个性化的计划。这些因素使FLF成为一个独特的机会，让我成为欧洲及其他地区不平等和公平问题的领先专家。

"Every human society must justify its inequalities: unless reasons for them are found, the whole political and social edifice stands in danger of collapse" - Thomas PikettyHow do citizens of different societies perceive the fairness of inequalities? Answering this question is key to understanding increasing social tensions, and informing the design of policies that address the current and widespread discontent with existing economic and political institutions.There are two reasons why citizens may perceive inequalities as unfair. First, actual inequalities may not square with their fairness preferences, e.g., people may dislike the extent of gender pay gaps, or they may think that the returns to long working hours are too low. Second, they may have biased beliefs about actual inequality, e.g., people may overestimate the size of gender pay gaps, or they may underestimate the earnings effects of working hours. These examples illustrate that an understanding of fairness perceptions requires in-depth knowledge of citizens' fairness preferences and their beliefs about inequality in different domains of the labor market. However, to date, there is no harmonized data collection that integrates these elements and enables us to measure perceived unfairness and understand its consequences for society on a global scale. As a consequence, our current knowledge is either based on strong assumptions about peoples' fairness preferences and beliefs about inequality, or confined to single-country studies that cannot take account of the diversity of perceptions across countries with different geographic, cultural, and economic characteristics.In my FLF, I will address this gap. I will lead a network of stakeholders including the general public, policymakers, and scientists to identify domains of labor market inequality that are at the core of fairness perceptions; collect corresponding data on preferences and beliefs about labor market inequality in 50 countries worldwide; and construct measures of perceived unfairness that allow us to assess the implications of perceived unfairness for important societal outcomes that are essential building blocks for well-functioning societies.In years 1-4, I will divide my FLF into three working packages (WPs):WP1 - Develop a measurement framework and associated survey module taking into account the views of key stakeholders such as the general public, policymakers, and academics from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds (Years 1-2).WP2 - Collect harmonized data on fairness preferences and inequality beliefs in 50 countries (incl. the four nations of the UK) representing a broad range of geographic, cultural, and economic characteristics (Years 2-3).WP3 - Analyze the anatomy of perceived unfairness and its implications for societal outcomes including support for democracy, trust in institutions, and support for public policies (Years 3-4).In years 5-7, I will build on the initial findings and use both field experiments and quasi-experimental variation from policy reforms to investigate whether preferences and beliefs regarding different domains of labor market inequality are malleable by policy intervention. Thereby, I will provide important insights for civil society organizations and policymakers on how to address perceived unfairness and discontent with current economic systems.This agenda will improve our understanding of one of the most widely debated social issues of our times: unfair inequality in labor markets. I will analyze this phenomenon on a global scale while integrating the perspectives of a diverse set of stakeholders. My FLF combines an ambitious and multidisciplinary research programme that will generate a series of high-profile journal articles with a personalized programme for my professional development. These elements make the FLF a unique opportunity to establish myself as a leading expert regarding inequality and fairness in Europe and beyond.