http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/upshot/give-to-those-at-the-bottom-sure-as-long-as-they-stay-there.html
When it comes to reducing inequality, Americans may be open to bolder solutions for reining in those at the top than for ones boosting people at the bottom.But sometimes that depends on how close to the bottom they are. [snip] They tested a phenomenon that may explain this finding, known as last-place aversion, with a series of laboratory experiments, one of which randomly gave money to subjects in such a way that each was separated by a dollar, then gave them an additional $2, which they had to either pass along to the person just above them or just below them on the stylized economic ladder. The authors found that the subjects nearly always gave the money to the less well-off person — except, that is, for the second-to-last ranking subjects, who gave the money to the better-off person with considerable frequency. The authors concluded that those in second-to-last place were highly resistant to any change that would drop them into dead last place.The authors then tested the proposition on a real-world policy example — the minimum wage — using their own survey data. They found that, while raising the minimum wage was enormously popular over all, support for the increase dropped among those making only slightly more than the minimum. “People who make just above the minimum wage are surprisingly not in favor of raising it,” Mr. Norton said. [snip]
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