Demand for redistribution in the wake of the Great Recession
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17811/ebl.3.3.2014.156-165Abstract
Data from the European Social Survey suggest that while average demand for redistribution in Europe has increased in the wake of the Great Recession, the change differs significantly across income groups. A twofold hypothesis is advanced to account for this phenomenon: (1) The severity of the crisis has led to a new awareness of economic risks among middle and higher income groups, which have traditionally been far less exposed to material risks; (2) the change in risk perceptions has led to a higher support for redistribution through the social insurance motive. Empirical evidence supports this hypothesis and shows effects to be strongest for the self-employed, older workers and those living in countries most affected by the crisis.
References
ESS Round 1-5: European Social Survey Rounds 1-5 Data (2002-2010). Data file editions 6.3, 3.3, 3.4, 4.1 and 3.0, respectively. Norwegian Social Science Data Services, Norway – Data Archive and distributor of ESS data.
ESS Rounds 1-5: European Social Survey (2010-2012): ESS Documentation Reports. Editions 6.3, 3.3, 3.4, 4.1 and 3.0, respectively. Bergen, European Social Survey Data Archive, Norwegian Social Science Data Services.
Grosjean, P., Ricka, F., & Senik, C. (2011). Learning, political attitudes and the crisis in transition countries. London: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Working Paper No. 140.
Meltzer, A. H., & Richard, S. F. (1981). A Rational Theory of the Size of Government. The Journal of Political Economy, 33(5), S. 914-927.
Moulton, B. (1990). An Illustration of a Pitfall in Estimating the Effects of Aggregate Variables on Micro Units. Review of Economics and Statistics, 72(2), S. 334-338.
OECD. (2011). Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising. Paris: OECD.
Rehm, P. (2005). Citizen support for the welfare state: Determinants of preference sfor income redistribution. Berlin: Social Science Research Centre Berlin Discussion Paper.
Sinn, H. W. (1995). A theory of the welfare state. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 97(4), S. 495-526.
Varian, H. (1980). Redistributive taxation as social insurance. Journal of Public Economics, 14(1), S. 49-68.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The works published in this journal are subject to the following terms:
1. Oviedo University Press (the publisher) retains the property rights (copyright) of published works, and encourages and enables the reuse of the same under the license specified in paragraph 2.
© Ediuno. Ediciones de la Universidad de Oviedo / Oviedo University Press
2. The works are published in the online edition of the journal under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Non Derives 3.0 Spain (legal text). You can copy, use, distribute, transmit and publicly display, provided that: i) you cite the author and the original source of publication (journal, publisher and URL of the work), ii) they are not used for commercial purposes, iii) mentions the existence and specifications of this license.
3. Conditions of self-archiving. The author can archive the post-print version of the article (publisher’s version) on the author’s personal website and/or on the web of the institution where he belong, including a link to the page of the journal and putting the way of citation of the work. Economics and Business Letters and its URL https://reunido.uniovi.es/index.php/EBL/index are the only authorized source for correctly giving the reference of the publisher’s version in every mention of the article.
