Fairness views, pension benefits, and heterogeneity in life expectancy (with Simone Quercia and Alessandro Sommacal)
Notional Defined Contribution (NDC) pension schemes convert accumulated pension wealth into an annuity, based on an average life expectancy at retirement. When longevity differs across social groups, a single conversion factor implies systematic transfers from shorter-lived to longer-lived individuals. This motivates proposals to differentiate benefits by predictors of life expectancy. We study whether such differentiation is perceived as fair using a survey experiment involving 3,004 Italian residents aged 18--66. Respondents completed an incentivised allocation task to elicit fairness views and then evaluated six reform scenarios that adjust pension benefits based on gender, region, income, household wealth, workplace fatigue, and health status. The results show that fatigue-based and wealth-based scenarios receive the highest support, whereas gender-based and region-based scenarios are strongly opposed. Self-interest predicts approval, with higher support among those who stand to gain from a reform. Respondents with libertarian views are consistently less supportive of changes in benefits, while egalitarians and, to a lesser extent, liberal egalitarians are more favourable. Finally, support is higher when longevity differences are attributed to circumstances, while perceived individual control is not systematically related to approval. Overall, public support depends largely on the perceived legitimacy of the adjustment rule rather than on pure actuarial logic.
The effect of attention and information on policy evaluations: A comparative study of Italy and Germany (with Simone Quercia and Alessandro Sommacal)
The study investigates the factors shaping fiscal policy preferences by comparing Italy and Germany, which have notably different approaches to public debt sustainability. Italy has historically relied more on deficit spending to finance its government expenditures that has contributed to higher public debt levels compared to Germany. We hypothesise that these differences may be driven by variations in how individuals assess fiscal policies. Specifically, we examine whether policy evaluations are influenced by selective attention to policy trade-offs and/or a lack of information about their fiscal consequences. We employ a between-subject design with three treatment conditions to disentangle these mechanisms. Beyond treatment effects, we examine how public policy support correlates with individual differences in public debt knowledge, selfishness, and direct exposure to the policy.
Fairness in long-term contracts under uncertainty and allocation errors (with Daniele Nosenzo and Simone Quercia)
Chaykina M., Cuccu L., Pontarollo N. (2022) Two faces of discontent in Italy: one looking to the North and one to the South. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083221116890