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- All HBS Web
(511)
- People (1)
- News (93)
- Research (353)
- Events (4)
- Multimedia (4)
- Faculty Publications (200)
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- Article
Cheating, Inequality Aversion, and Appealing to Social Norms
By: Clara Amato, Francesca Gino, Natalia Montinari and Pierluigi Sacco
We conduct a field experiment involving 143, 9-years old children in their classrooms. Children are requested to flip a coin in private and receive a big or a small prize depending on the outcome they report. Comparing the actual and theoretical distribution of... View Details
Keywords: Cheating; Inequality Aversion; Social Norms; Children; Experiment; Behavior; Equality and Inequality; Moral Sensibility
Amato, Clara, Francesca Gino, Natalia Montinari, and Pierluigi Sacco. "Cheating, Inequality Aversion, and Appealing to Social Norms." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 179 (November 2020): 767–778.
Inequality in Socially Permissible Consumption
Contributing to the burgeoning discourse on economic inequality, we expose an inequality in what the poor are socially permitted to buy. Across 11 experiments (n = 4,179), we demonstrate that lower-income individuals are held to more... View Details
- January 2015
- Background Note
Note on Economic Inequality (2015)
By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia
For over half a century, most of the world's economies have enjoyed steady growth and prosperity. However, beginning in the 1980s, and continuing essentially unabated to the present, the gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in developed countries has widened,... View Details
Keywords: Economic Inequalty; Income Inequality; Growth and Development; Economics; Equality and Inequality; Society; Problems and Challenges; United States
Rose, Clayton S., and Aldo Sesia. "Note on Economic Inequality (2015)." Harvard Business School Background Note 315-050, January 2015.
- June 23, 2020
- Article
Inequality in Socially Permissible Consumption
By: Serena Hagerty and Kate Barasz
Lower-income individuals are frequently criticized for their consumption decisions; this research examines why. Eleven preregistered studies document systematic differences in permissible consumption—interpersonal judgments about what is acceptable (or not) for others... View Details
Keywords: Interpersonal Judgments; Consumption; Economic Inequalty; Income; Equality and Inequality; Spending; Judgments
Hagerty, Serena, and Kate Barasz. "Inequality in Socially Permissible Consumption." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 25 (June 23, 2020): 14084–14093.
- June 2025
- Article
Social Security and Trends in Wealth Inequality
By: Sylvain Catherine, Max Miller and Natasha Sarin
Recent influential work finds large increases in inequality in the U.S. based on measures of wealth concentration that notably exclude the value of social insurance programs. This paper shows that top wealth shares have not changed much over the last three decades when... View Details
Catherine, Sylvain, Max Miller, and Natasha Sarin. "Social Security and Trends in Wealth Inequality." Journal of Finance 80, no. 3 (June 2025): 1497–1531.
- December 2018 (Revised March 2020)
- Technical Note
Note on Economic Inequality (2020)
By: Rebecca Henderson, Jessica A. Gover, Aldo Sesia and Mariana Oseguera Rodriguez
For over half a century, most of the world's economies have enjoyed steady growth and prosperity. While this economic growth has reduced the number of people living in poverty, it has come with an increase in economic inequality. The gap between the "haves" and the... View Details
- Article
Physical and Situational Inequality on Airplanes Predict Air Rage
By: K. A. DeCelles and Michael I. Norton
We posit that the modern airplane is a social microcosm of class-based society, and that the increasing incidence of “air rage” can be understood through the lens of inequality. Research on inequality typically examines the effects of relatively fixed, macrostructural... View Details
Keywords: Physical Inequality; Equality and Inequality; Behavior; Air Transportation; Situation or Environment
DeCelles, K. A., and Michael I. Norton. "Physical and Situational Inequality on Airplanes Predict Air Rage." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113, no. 20 (May 17, 2016): 5588–5591.
- 20 Jan 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
Income Inequality and Social Preferences for Redistribution and Compensation Differentials
Keywords: by William R. Kerr
- September 2014
- Article
Income Inequality and Social Preferences for Redistribution and Compensation Differentials
By: William R. Kerr
In cross-sectional studies, countries with greater income inequality typically exhibit less support for government-led redistribution and greater acceptance of wage inequality (e.g., United States versus Western Europe). If individual nations evolve along this pattern,... View Details
Kerr, William R. "Income Inequality and Social Preferences for Redistribution and Compensation Differentials." Journal of Monetary Economics 66 (September 2014): 62–78.
- March 2014
- Case
Inequality and Growth in the 'Chinese Dream'
By: Rafael Di Tella, Meg Rithmire and Kaitlyn Szydlowski
Xi Jinping assumed his position as head of China's fifth generation of leaders in 2012. Xi was head of both the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, which had ruled China since 1949. Xi inherited a country far more unequal than the one that Mao... View Details
- 11 Jan 2012
- News
Business the solution to social inequities
- 2021
- Working Paper
Racial Inequality in Organizations: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective
By: Sanaz Mobasseri, William Kahn and Robin Ely
This paper uses systems psychodynamic concepts to develop a theory about the persistence of racial inequality in U.S. companies, treating White men as the dominant group and Black people as an illustrative subordinate group. We theorize that this persistence is rooted... View Details
Keywords: Systems Psychodynamics; Organizational Inequality; Masculinity; Equality and Inequality; Race; Gender; Identity; Power and Influence
Mobasseri, Sanaz, William Kahn, and Robin Ely. "Racial Inequality in Organizations: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-052, December 2021. (Revised September 2022.)
- 2013
- Article
Nations' Income Inequality Predicts Ambivalence in Stereotype Content: How Societies Mind the Gap
By: Federica Durante, S. T. Fiske, Nicolas Kervyn and Amy J.C. Cuddy
Income inequality undermines societies: the more inequality, the more health problems, social tensions, and the lower social mobility, trust, and life expectancy. Given people's tendency to legitimate existing social arrangements, the Stereotype Content Model (SCM)... View Details
Keywords: Stereotypes; Cross-cultural/cross-border; Inequality; Prejudice and Bias; Equality and Inequality; Income; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Power and Influence
Durante, Federica, S. T. Fiske, Nicolas Kervyn, and Amy J.C. Cuddy. "Nations' Income Inequality Predicts Ambivalence in Stereotype Content: How Societies Mind the Gap." British Journal of Social Psychology 52, no. 4 (December 2013): 726–746.
- December 2014 (Revised November 2015)
- Case
Governing the 'Chinese Dream': Corruption, Inequality and the Rule of Law
By: Rafael Di Tella, Meg Rithmire and Kait Szydlowski
Xi Jinping assumed his position as head of China's fifth generation of leaders in 2012. Xi was head of both the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, which had ruled China since 1949. Xi inherited a country far more unequal than the one that Mao... View Details
Keywords: China; Growth; Inequality; Wealth And Poverty; Social Stability; Perceptions Of Inequality; Chinese Dream; Chinese Political Thought; Corruption; Equality and Inequality; China
Di Tella, Rafael, Meg Rithmire, and Kait Szydlowski. "Governing the 'Chinese Dream': Corruption, Inequality and the Rule of Law." Harvard Business School Case 715-023, December 2014. (Revised November 2015.)
- November 2022
- Article
Measuring Inequality beyond the Gini Coefficient May Clarify Conflicting Findings
By: Kristin Blesch, Oliver P. Hauser and Jon M. Jachimowicz
Prior research has found mixed results on how economic inequality is related to various outcomes. These contradicting findings may in part stem from a predominant focus on the Gini coefficient, which only narrowly captures inequality. Here, we conceptualize the... View Details
Keywords: Economic Inequalty; Gini Coefficient; Income Inequality; Equality and Inequality; Social Issues; Health; Status and Position
Blesch, Kristin, Oliver P. Hauser, and Jon M. Jachimowicz. "Measuring Inequality beyond the Gini Coefficient May Clarify Conflicting Findings." Nature Human Behaviour 6, no. 11 (November 2022): 1525–1536.
- 28 Jan 2014
- News
Income Inequality as a Sustainability Issue
- May 2005 (Revised May 2011)
- Background Note
Inequality and Globalization
By: David A. Moss, Anna Harrington and Jonathan Schlefer
Inequality represented a major issue at the dawn of the 21st century. By many measures, inequality had increased over the previous several decades, within both developed and developing countries. Whether global inequality (measured across countries or among the people... View Details
Moss, David A., Anna Harrington, and Jonathan Schlefer. "Inequality and Globalization." Harvard Business School Background Note 705-040, May 2005. (Revised May 2011.)
- 09 Aug 2024
- Blog Post
Addressing Inequities in Education: Social Enterprise Summer Fellow Amal Tariq (MBA 2025)
deep interest in education as a catalyst for social change and I am passionate about addressing the systemic inequities in education that perpetuate poverty and income inequality. I was drawn to this... View Details
- Article
(Mis)perceptions of Inequality
By: Oliver P. Hauser and Michael I. Norton
Inequality is arguably the defining societal issue of the 21st century. The debate over “who gets what’ underlies policy debates ranging from taxation to health care to wages and permeates society at all levels, attracting increasing interest from policymakers,... View Details
Hauser, Oliver P., and Michael I. Norton. "(Mis)perceptions of Inequality." Special Issue on Inequality and Social Class. Current Opinion in Psychology 18 (December 2017): 21–25.
- Article
Scandal, Social Movement, and Change: Evidence from #MeToo in Hollywood
By: Hong Luo and Laurina Zhang
Social movements have the potential to effect change in firm decision-making. In this paper, we examine whether the #MeToo movement, spurred by the Harvey Weinstein scandal, led to changes in the likelihood of Hollywood producers working with female writers on new... View Details
Keywords: Gender Inequality; Social Movement; Scandal; Creative Industries; Project Selection; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Social Issues; Film Entertainment; Projects; Change
Luo, Hong, and Laurina Zhang. "Scandal, Social Movement, and Change: Evidence from #MeToo in Hollywood." Management Science 68, no. 2 (February 2022): 1278–1296.