Collective Identity and Support for Regional Redistribution in Spain: Combining Evidence of Laboratory and Survey Experiments

Amid the Catalan referendum plans, the issue of regional redistribution has taken centre-stage. A vocal part of the Catalan population perceives the regional tax revenue contribution to the common Spanish pool as disproportionate and demands (fiscal) independence from Spain. It is unclear, however, whether these claims are mainly motivated by economic interest, institutional distrust, or collective identity. Therefore, this paper seeks to study the impact of these factors on both support for regional redistribution and personal willingness to share with other individuals. To analyse these questions empirically, we combine evidence from laboratory experiments and survey experiments conducted in 2015.