AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DETERMINANTS OF PERCEIVED INEQUALITY SEBASTIANO BAVETTA, PAOLO LI DONNI, MARIA MARINO †* Universit`a di Palermo Abstract. Perception of inequality is important for the analysis of individuals’ deci- sions and for policy assessment. Despite the broad range of analytic gains that it grants, our knowledge about perception of inequality, its measurement and its causes is still limited since it is intrinsically unobservable, multidimensional and essentially contested. Using a novel econometric approach in the field, we study how observable individual characteristics affect the joint distribution of a set of indicators of perceived inequality in a specific domain. Using data from the International Social Survey Programme (2009 wave), we offer a new tool to analyze the associations among these indicators and how they are affected by covariates. Keywords: Inequality of outcome, inequality of opportunity, inequality perception JEL Classification: D63, D31, D83 † Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Aziendali e Statistiche (SEAS), Universit` a di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy ∗ We wish to thank Cristina Bicchieri, Valentino Dardanoni, Francesca Lipari and Pietro Navarra, for their suggestions. This paper is part of a research project on “Personal Freedom”, funded by the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this work are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation. Corresponding author: maria.marino@unipa.it. 1