The rise of economic inequality observed in countries around the globe is causing societal and political concern, triggering public and academic debates on the consequences for societal welfare and social cohesion, the role of government intervention, the state’s inability to intervene, and the legitimacy of social policies. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, these debates have taken on new significance, as the pandemic has unmasked and exacerbated economic disparities. But how are welfare state institutions connected to the perception and justification of economic inequality? In fact, do welfare state institutions define how the public perceives and justifies economic inequality? While it is well established in the literature that the distribution and redistribution of economic resources is directly tied to the welfare state and its institutional arrangements, empirical studies have remained remarkably silent on the connection of welfare state institutions to the public’s perception and justification of economic inequality.

The project PERGAP “The (Mis)Perception of Economic Inequality: The Impact of Welfare State Institutions on Social Perception and Preference Formation” headed by Dr. Simone Schneider and funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union´s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme (ERC Starting Grant 2021), advances research in this direction. It unites approaches from neo-institutional theory and empirical social justice research to investigate whether ideas about inequality and the distribution of resources are imprinted in the institutional setting of social security systems, and whether this is interrelated with the public’s perception and justification of economic inequality.

The following research questions are central: How do social security systems differ in their conceptions of economic inequality and how can we assess and quantify these differences empirically? Do perceptions of inequality and justice vary systematically between societies and social groups within society? Can institutional differences explain these systematic differences in social perceptions?

In order to answer these questions, the project pursues a threefold approach: First, the institutional structures of social security systems with respect to their conception of inequality and (re)distributive motives are examined. By collecting, systematising, and quantifying legal information on the institutional framework provided by country experts, novel indicators for the quantitative study of social security systems and their potential consequences are developed.

Second, by combining these indicators with existing country-comparative survey data, such as the European Social Survey (ESS) and the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), quantitative research methods can be used to study how the different institutional structures of welfare states are interrelated with the perception and justification of socio-economic inequality within and across countries.

Third, the project explores how persons living in diverse institutional settings around the globe perceive and justify socio-economic inequalities. By studying perceptions over time, we also consider how changes in the institutional setting before, during, and potentially after the pandemic have changed the misperception of inequality.

The project started in December 2022 and is implemented by Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona) in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy (Munich). More information and updates on the project will be featured on the project homepage.