In the mood for redistribution. An empirical analysis of individual preferences for redistribution in Italy

Over the past few years a large body of literature has studied the determinants of individual preferences for income equality and redistributive policies. In this paper, using data collected in 2005 by the World Values Survey (WVS), we specifically focus on the preferences expressed by Italians and analyse their determinants. We test a number of variables usually found to impact individual attitudes towards equality and redistribution and demonstrate that self-interest evaluations, together with the personal system of beliefs, do influence this kind of personal attitudes. The results also seem to suggest that living in a specific macro regional context may play a significant role in conditioning personal attitudes.