Redistributive policy and redistribution preferences: the effects of the Moscow redevelopment program

Post-Soviet Affairs. 2024. Vol. 40. No. 3. P. 175–203.

Marques II I., Alexei Zakharov

How does inclusion in social policy programs strengthen individuals’ support for redistribution, and lead to spillovers in support for future social policy programs? We study a unique dataset of 1,300 Moscow residents to estimate the effect of participating in a government-sponsored redevelopment program on preferences for redistributive social policy. Our design exploits features of the program designed to foster institutional trust by engaging citizens in the policy design process. We report a positive effect: individuals in buildings slated for redevelopment are more likely to agree that the government should reduce income differences between rich and poor, provide for the unemployed, and provide public housing. Our findings suggest that increased trust in the government is a channel through which program participation affects redistribution preferences, show how programs can be used strategically to promote a redistributive agenda, and suggest a pathway for the co-persistence of redistribution preferences and redistributive state policies.

Keywords: housing policy, preferences for redistribution, consultation

Publication based on the results of: Institutions and human capital as factors in crisis adaptation (2024)