This paper presents a simple conceptual framework specifically tailored to measure individual perceptions of wage inequality. Using internationally comparable survey data, the empirical part of the paper documents that there is huge variation in inequality perceptions both across and within countries as well as survey-years. Focusing on the association between aggregate-level inequality measures and individuals’ subjective perception of wage inequality, it turns out that there are both a high correlation between the two measures and a considerable amount of misperception of the prevailing level of inequality. The final part of the analysis shows that subjective inequality perceptions appear to be more important, in a statistical sense, in explaining variation in individual-level attitudes toward social inequality than objective measures of inequality. This underlines the conceptual and practical importance of distinguishing between subjective perceptions of inequality and the true level of inequality.

中文翻译：

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个人对工资不平等的（误）感知：度量，相关和含意

本文提出了一个简单的概念框架，专门用于衡量个人对工资不平等的看法。使用国际可比的调查数据，本文的经验部分证明，国家之间以及国家内部以及调查年份之间对不平等观念的差异都很大。着眼于总体水平的不平等测度与个人对工资不平等的主观感知之间的联系，结果表明，这两种测度之间既有高度相关性，也有对当前不平等水平的大量误解。分析的最后一部分表明，从统计意义上讲，主观不平等感似乎更为重要，在解释个人对社会不平等的态度上的变化而不是客观上对不平等的衡量。这突出了区分不平等的主观观念和不平等的真实水平的概念和实践重要性。