On the Measurement of Polarisation:A questionnaire study

Starting from the axiomatisation of polarisation contained in Esteban and Ray (1994)and Chakravarty and Majumdar (2001) we investigate whether people's perceptionsof income polarisation is consistent with the key axioms. This is carried out using aquestionnaire-experimental approach that combines both paper questionnaires and onlineinteractive techniques. The responses suggest that important axioms which serveto differentiate polarisation from inequality - e.g. increased bipolarisation - as well asother distinctive features of polarisation, i.e. the non-monotonous behaviour attributedto polarisation, are not widely accepted.