TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Preuss, Marcel
AU  - Reyes, Germán
AU  - Somerville, Jason
AU  - Wu, Joy
        TI  - Are Elites Meritocratic and Efficiency-Seeking? Evidence from MBA Students
        PY  - 2025/Mar/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 17788
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp17788
        AB  - Elites disproportionately influence policymaking, yet little is known about their fairness and efficiency preferences–key determinants of support for redistributive policies. We investigate these preferences using an incentivized lab experiment with a group of future elites–Ivy League MBA students. We find that elites implement more unequal earnings distributions than the average American, are highly sensitive to both merit-based inequality and efficiency costs of redistribution, and are less likely to hold strict meritocratic views. These findings provide novel insights into how elites' redistributive preferences may shape high levels of inequality and limited redistributive policy in the United States.
        KW  - meritocracy
KW  - efficiency
KW  - elite control
KW  - fairness ideals
KW  - redistributive preferences
KW  - MBA students
KW  - inequality
KW  - experimental economics
        ER  -