Redistributive Politics under Optimally Incomplete Information

A theoretical economic investigation of the role of incomplete information and beliefs in the dynamics of redistribution welfare and economic outcomes. Extensive empirical evidence shows that the difference in the political support for redistribution appears to reflect a difference in the social perceptions regarding the determinants of individual wealth and the underlying sources of income inequality. This work presents a theoretical framework of beliefs and redistribution which explains this evidence through multiple politico-economic equilibria.