(No) money for others? Perceived unfairness, support for welfare state intervention, and attitudes toward interregional redistribution

Territorial inequalities are a matter of growing concern in many advanced democracies, as they may leave citizens in disadvantaged areas feeling ‘left behind.’ Interregional transfers can mitigate these inequalities, but redistribution creates winners and losers among the regions, making such transfers politically contentious. We analyze support for interregional transfers in Germany and Switzerland, two established federations with large interregional fiscal equalization schemes that feature regularly in public debate. Moving beyond existing literature, we show that in order to better understand support for interregional redistribution, it is important to take fairness perceptions and welfare culture into account: We demonstrate that residence in donor regions is associated with reduced support for interregional redistribution only when citizens perceive their region as unfairly treated within the federation. Moreover, we show that support for interregional equalization schemes is closely linked to preferences for welfare state intervention. Both issues touch on the fundamental question of redistribution.