School Bullying Increases Support for Redistribution in Adulthood

Abstract

I document that being bullied at school is strongly associated with the support for redistribution in adulthood. Using unique Japanese survey data, I estimate that being bullied at school increases the support for redistribution in adulthood by around 5-7 percentage points. I carefully examine whether omitted factors drive the school bullying effect by considering a rich set of socioeconomic and psychological mediators. Consistent with the causal interpretation of the school bullying effect, the estimate is remarkably robust.