Sven Ehmes

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The paradox of inequality that isn’t: rising economic inequality depresses and polarizes citizens’ belief in meritocracy Abstract. This study examines how rising income inequality has been impacting individuals’ belief in merit-based success, using three decades of survey dat

🔓 Read the full paper in Socio-Economic Review (@sasemeeting.bsky.social), available open access: doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwag016

📊 We further uncover that inequality does not merely induce a mean shift, but also alters the shape of the distribution of meritocracy beliefs, increasing the proportion of citizens deeply skeptical of meritocratic realities.

📚 We revisit a prominent claim that economic inequality legitimizes itself by paradoxically strengthening meritocratic beliefs.

📉 Challenging the "paradox of inequality," our evidence shows that rising inequality within countries over time erodes citizens’ belief in meritocracy.

The paradox of inequality that isn’t: rising economic inequality depresses and polarizes citizens’ belief in meritocracy Abstract. This study examines how rising income inequality has been impacting individuals’ belief in merit-based success, using three decades of survey dat

🔍 How does economic inequality impact beliefs in meritocracy?

Using comprehensive survey data from 39 advanced capitalist democracies over more than three decades, Markus Gangl & I examine how rising economic inequality has been shaping citizens' belief in meritocracy.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwag016

Congrats on this publication, super interesting! And thanks for the kind shoutout! 🙏

This figure shows the percentage of respondents in 35 countries across the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) and the Integrated Values Survey (IVS) who rate “hard work” as more important than structural factors for getting ahead in life. Dark blue diamonds (IVS) and dark green circles (ISSP) represent survey year averages. Light blue and light green lines plot the trend in meritocratic beliefs across the five-year cohorts, on the basis of locally weighted least squares regressions on the cohort-country means (light blue diamonds [IVS] and light green circles [ISSP]). IVS data show whether respondents rate hard work (1) or luck and connections (0) as the more important factor for achieving a better life. ISSP data show the share of respondents who rate hard work as more important than “knowing the right people” and “coming from a wealthy family” for getting ahead in life.

The figure shows annualized change scores (subtracting the earliest from the latest value and standardizing by the number of years/cohorts). This figure is only included in the supplementary material.

How has the public belief in meritocracy changed over time? We address this question in our new Data Viz (@sociusjournal.bsky.social) by examining trends in popular beliefs across cohorts and periods in 35 countries, based on two datasets.

🔗 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23780231261425841

Curious how debt shapes inequality? 🌍
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Subsidized small jobs and maternal labor market outcomes in the long run Abstract. This article investigates whether incentives generated by public policies contribute to motherhood penalties. Specifically, we study the conseque

👩‍👧 New in Socio-Economic Review:
Subsidized small jobs and maternal labor market outcomes in the long run
🇩🇪 Evidence from Minijobs shows long-term earnings & pension disadvantages for mothers who return via subsidized small jobs vs. regular employment.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/ser/...
#SER

🎉Big news! My ERCStG proposal SOCDEBT has been selected for funding @erc.europa.eu!
📚I’ll study how household debt is stratified across countries & over time; how people strategize, evaluate, and morally judge debt(ors).
🙏I'm truly indebted to all my friends, colleagues & mentors for your support!