Welcome!
I am a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam and the Tinbergen Institute under the supervision of Joël van der Weele and Thomas Douenne.
My research is in behavioral and experimental economics. I am interested in how individuals perceive and reason about economic inequality, and what determines beliefs about fairness and policy preferences.
You can find my CV here.
Please contact me at: m.j.wasilewska(at)uva.nl
Research
Working papers:
Do People Distinguish Income from Wealth Inequality? Evidence from the Netherlands. [link] with Thomas Douenne, Oda Sund, and Joël van der Weele R&R at The Economic Journal
In most countries, wealth inequality is much higher than income inequality, spurring debates about wealth taxation. However, it is unclear if voters are aware of these differences. In a large-scale survey experiment among a representative Dutch population (N=4,501), we study voters' perceptions of income and wealth distributions, and connect their views to administrative data about their own income and wealth. Despite a primer on the definition of income and wealth, respondents underestimate the difference between the top 10% share of income and wealth by a factor of 10. Moreover, they use information about the income distribution to make predictions about the wealth distribution and vice versa, even when information about both is provided, further demonstrating confusion about the two types of inequality. An information intervention about actual inequality levels and personal ranks in the income/wealth distribution has an impact on the perceived inequality and perceived fairness of inequality, but little effect on policy preferences. We discuss implications for political debates about inequality and wealth taxation.
Work in progress:
Societal Explanations of Economic Inequality with Thomas Douenne, Oda Sund, and Joël van der Weele
Welfare State Complexity and Policy Choice
Teaching
Economics in a Global Business World (BSc Business Administration), TA, 2023 – present
Thesis supervision (BSc Economics and Business Economics), 2023 – present
Beyond Research
I am part of the Outreach team at the Women in Economics Initiative.
Non-academic writing:
Vooral mensen met een hypotheek steunen de hypotheekrenteaftrek, Economisch Statistische Berichten, with Joël van der Weele, November 2025
Sukces to stan umysłu? Bogaci chętnie zapominają o szczęściu, które im sprzyjało, Krytyka Polityczna, October 2025