A recent literature has emerged in social choice theory which attributes intrinsic importance to freedom in the evaluation of states of affairs. The literature’s philosophical basis lies in Berlin’s notion of positive liberty. Accordingly, axiomatic measures of availability of choices are...

We study the determinants of people’s attitudes toward income inequality and their economic consequences. We argue that attitudes toward inequality depend on the extent of freedom of choice and control over life outcomes an individual enjoys. We construct a two-stage empirical model where...