Coloured Lenses? Disentangling perceptions and attitudes towards horizontal redistribution in Nigeria & Kenya

This study aims to shed light on how Nigerian citizens perceive of horizontal inequalities (HIs) and how these perceptions shape their attitudes towards redistribution policies. HIs are inequalities not between individuals and households, but between culturally defined groups based on, e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, or religion (Stewart, 2008). Existing research has shown that HI persists in countries around the world and that, based on objective measures, their severity is associated with higher probability of violent mobilization and intrastate conflict (see e.g., Østby, 2008). A possible instrument to prevent HI from leading to conflict are policies of horizontal redistribution that aim to alleviate inequalities through redistribution across relevant groups (e.g., affirmative action policies, reserved seats, etc.). While most of the research has focused on objective measures of HI, surprisingly little research has investigated how individuals perceive of this type of inequality. Yet, perceptions – instead of objective inequality measures - may be the main mechanism by which HIs lead to conflict and may also be the key to understanding differences in individual attitudes towards redistribution policies and programs. Hence, the aim of the current study is to contribute to closing this research gap on the basis of a large-scale online panel survey in Nigeria.