American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Zero-Sum Thinking and the Roots of US Political Differences
American Economic Review
(pp. 1052–96)
Abstract
We investigate the origins and implications of zero-sum thinking: the belief that gains for one individual or group tend to come at the cost of others. Using a new survey of 20,400 US residents, we measure zero-sum thinking, political preferences, policy views, and a rich array of ancestral information spanning four generations. We find that a more zero-sum mindset is strongly associated with more support for government redistribution, race- and gender-based affirmative action, and more restrictive immigration policies. Zero-sum thinking can be traced back to the experiences of both the individual and their ancestors, encompassing factors such as the degree of intergenerational upward mobility they experienced, whether they immigrated to the United States or lived in a location with more immigrants, and whether they were enslaved or lived in a location with more enslavement.Citation
Chinoy, Sahil, Nathan Nunn, Sandra Sequeira, and Stefanie Stantcheva. 2026. "Zero-Sum Thinking and the Roots of US Political Differences." American Economic Review 116 (3): 1052–96. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20240692Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- C83 Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
- H23 Taxation and Subsidies: Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification