Does Subjective Left-Right Position Have a Causal Effect on Support for Redistribution?

Political values have been hypothesized as causal predictors of welfare state support, with subjective position on the left-right scale often used in empirical studies to measure the individual’s core political values. Unfortunately, a major problem in existing research is that the causal effect of left-right position on welfare state support cannot be identified with cross-sectional data in which left-right position and welfare state support are observed simultaneously. In this paper, I propose an alternative approach based on Instrumental Variable methods which, using socioeconomic background characteristics as instruments for left-right position, can be used to estimate the causal effect of left-right position on support for redistribution. I analyze data on Sweden, Germany, and Norway from the two first waves of the European Social Survey and find first that left-right position is endogenous to support for redistribution, and second consistent with theory, that a causal effect of left-right position on support for redistribution exists which is stronger than previously shown.