The role of ideology in shaping economists' opinions on inequality and discrimination: evidence from Uruguay

Amarante, Verónica - Bucheli, Marisa - Pérez, Tatiana

Resumen:

This paper investigates the link between the ideological profile of Uruguayan economists and their opinions regarding inequality and discrimination. Drawing on data from an online survey of Uruguayan economists, we explore the links between their economic opinions and three dimensions of ideology: political orientation, sexist attitudes (benevolent and hostile sexism), and pro-market views. Economists' opinions encompass diagnostic assessments of inequality and discrimination, as well as views on specific policies designed to address these issues.Using ordered probit models, we find that right-wing political ideology, hostile sexism, and pro-market attitudes are associated with a lower likelihood of agreeing that income distributionin Uruguay should be more equitableand that women face barriers to full-time employment. These ideological factors are also linked to a higher likelihood of believing that there are equal gender and race opportunities in Uruguay. Benevolent sexism exhibits a more mixed relationship with opinions on inequality and discrimination. Furthermore, we show that economists' diagnoses of inequality and discrimination mediate the relationship between ideological variables and their policy preferences. Our results point to the need for greater introspection within the discipline regarding the influence of personal values and beliefs on economic analysis and policy recommendations. Our findings challenge the notion of economics as a purely objective and unbiased discipline, revealing significant associations between ideological factors, economists' perceptions of inequality and discrimination, and their support for specific policies.


Este artículo analiza la relación entre el perfil ideológico de los economistas uruguayos y sus opiniones sobre la desigualdad y la discriminación. A partir de los datos de una encuesta en línea realizada a economistas uruguayos, exploramos los vínculos entre sus opiniones económicas y tres dimensiones de la ideología: la orientación política, las actitudes sexistas (sexismo benévolo y hostil) y el apoyo al funcionamiento del libre mercado. Las opiniones de los economistas abarcan evaluaciones diagnósticas de la desigualdad y la discriminación, así como puntos de vista sobre políticas específicas diseñadas para abordar estas cuestiones. Utilizando modelos probit ordenados, encontramos que la ideología política de derechas, el sexismo hostil y las actitudes pro-mercado se asocian con una menor probabilidad de estar de acuerdo con que la distribución del ingreso en Uruguay debería ser más equitativa y con que las mujeres se enfrentan a barreras para conseguir un empleo a tiempo completo. Estos factores ideológicos también están vinculados a una mayor probabilidad de creer que en Uruguay hay igualdad de oportunidades de género y de raza. El sexismo benevolente exhibe una relación más mixta con las opiniones sobre desigualdad y discriminación. Además, mostramos que los diagnósticos de los economistas sobre la desigualdad y la discriminación median en la relación entre las variables ideológicas y sus preferencias políticas. Nuestros resultados apuntan a la necesidad de una mayor introspección dentro de la disciplina respecto a la influencia de los valores y creencias personales en el análisis económico y las recomendaciones políticas. Nuestras conclusiones ponen en tela de juicio la noción de la economía como una disciplina puramente objetiva e imparcial.


Detalles Bibliográficos
2024
Ideology
Sexism
Inequality
Discrimination
IDEOLOGIA
ECONOMISTAS
Español
Universidad de la República
COLIBRI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/44020
Acceso abierto
Licencia Creative Commons Atribución - No Comercial - Sin Derivadas (CC - By-NC-ND 4.0)
Resumen:
Sumario:This paper investigates the link between the ideological profile of Uruguayan economists and their opinions regarding inequality and discrimination. Drawing on data from an online survey of Uruguayan economists, we explore the links between their economic opinions and three dimensions of ideology: political orientation, sexist attitudes (benevolent and hostile sexism), and pro-market views. Economists' opinions encompass diagnostic assessments of inequality and discrimination, as well as views on specific policies designed to address these issues.Using ordered probit models, we find that right-wing political ideology, hostile sexism, and pro-market attitudes are associated with a lower likelihood of agreeing that income distributionin Uruguay should be more equitableand that women face barriers to full-time employment. These ideological factors are also linked to a higher likelihood of believing that there are equal gender and race opportunities in Uruguay. Benevolent sexism exhibits a more mixed relationship with opinions on inequality and discrimination. Furthermore, we show that economists' diagnoses of inequality and discrimination mediate the relationship between ideological variables and their policy preferences. Our results point to the need for greater introspection within the discipline regarding the influence of personal values and beliefs on economic analysis and policy recommendations. Our findings challenge the notion of economics as a purely objective and unbiased discipline, revealing significant associations between ideological factors, economists' perceptions of inequality and discrimination, and their support for specific policies.