The talent paradox: Why is it fair to reward talent but not luck?
A new article in the European Economic Review examines why people view inequality caused by talent as more acceptable than inequality caused by luck.
In “The talent paradox: Why is it fair to reward talent but not luck?” Björn Bartling, Alexander W. Cappelen, Ingvild L. Skarpeid, Erik Ø. Sørensen, and Bertil Tungodden study how people evaluate different sources of inequality. Drawing on a large-scale survey of the US population, the authors show that people are more accepting of inequality caused by talent than inequality caused by luck, even when accounting for beliefs about whether these factors are within individual control.
The authors then investigate this “talent paradox” in an experiment. The findings suggest that people view individuals as having ownership over the outcomes generated by their talent if they have acted on it, even when the talent itself is outside their control. By contrast, whether talent is linked to a personal or impersonal characteristic outside individual control does not affect attitudes toward inequality.
Taken together, the study provides new insight into how people think about fairness and inequality, and sheds light on broader debates about the acceptability of economic inequality in society.