Comparing aversions to outcome inequality and social risk in health and income: An empirical analysis using hypothetical scenarios with losses

Evaluation of future social welfare may not only depend on the aggregate of individual prospects, but also on how the prospects are distributed across individuals. The latter in turn would depend on how people perceive inequality and risk at the collective level (or “social risk”). This paper examines distributional preferences regarding inequality in outcomes and social risk for health and income in the context of losses. Specifically, four...