There is ongoing debate about whether the relationship between income and pro-social behaviour depends on economic inequality.Studies investigating this question differ in their conclusions but are consistent in measuring inequality at aggregated geographic levels (i.e.
at the state, region, or country-level).I hypothesise that local, more immediate manifestations of inequality are important for driving pro-social behaviour, and test the interaction between income and inequality at a NEUROMEGA ORANGE much finer geographical resolution than previous studies.I first analyse the charitable giving of US households using ZIP-code level measures of inequality and data on tax deductible charitable donations reported to the IRS.
I then examine whether the results generalise using a large-scale UK household survey and neighbourhood-level inequality measures.In both samples I find robust evidence of a significant interaction effect, albeit in the opposite direction as that which has been previously postulated-higher income individuals behave Cranberry more pro-socially rather than less when local inequality is high.