As winners of the genetic lottery, beautiful people have several advantages over their life course: they earn more, find better jobs, and they are more successful than their peers. While extensive research shows that beauty affects several outcomes such as earnings,
employment and happiness (see e.g. Hamermesh, 2011; Hamermesh and Abrevaya, 2013), less is known about how beauty might shape people's preferences.
We investigate whether good-looking individuals are willing to share
their fortune by supporting higher income redistribution. We also pay particular attention to the role played by beliefs so to understand whether to believe in the role of luck in determining socio-economic outcomes is a better driver with respect to experienced luck -as measured trough beauty.
Our research contributes to the debate on fairness and preferences for redistribution. The economic literature focuses its attention on how the beliefs about the role of luck and merit in life shape people's preferences for redistribution (see e.g. Piketty,1995; Alesina and Angeletos, 2005). Less is known about the relation between experienced luck and support for redistribution. We add to this literature by suggesting that experienced luck decreases the probability to support redistribution.
Furthermore, we try to better understand the interactions between experienced luck and beliefs about merit and luck. To our knowledge, no one has yet investigated the possible interactions between these two effects. Beliefs in the role of luck or the experience of luck: which affects preferences for redistribution the most? How do these two components interact? Recent literature proposes that to experience adverse macroeconomic conditions influences beliefs about merit and luck. Mijs (2019) suggests that beliefs in meritocracy go hand in hand with income inequality. The author shows that growing up with rising levels of inequality makes citizens believe more strongly in
meritocracy. Similarly, Roth and Wohlfart (2018) show that those who experienced high levels of inequality during their impressionable years (18-25 years old) are less likely to support redistribution. Most likely, also personal experiences influence beliefs about
the role of luck and merit and support for redistribution itself. Trying to disentangle all the different aspects of experienced luck, beliefs about luck and merit and support for redistribution is a real challenge, but it can help to better understand the formation of the beliefs and to formulate the adequate policy implications.
Finally, our project not only provide information to the research about fairness and preferences for redistribution, but it can also contribute to the literature on optimal taxation. Research suggests that redistributive policies in a society depend on the individual
support for redistribution (see e.g. Alesina et al., 2004; Guiso et al., 2006).
Preferences for redistribution might also be useful to understand which is the best taxation design to apply. For example, Mankiw and Weinzierl (2010) use a utilitarian framework to show that taller individuals benefiting from the height premium should
redistribute part of their income to shorter ones. The authors' aim is that of challenging the reader to think whether such policies are feasible or acceptable or not. The evidence of the socio-economic advantages of beauty should lead to a similar conclusion. To tax
beauty is obviously controversial and extremely complicated though. Furthermore, convincing good-looking individuals to pay a "beauty tax" might be hard.