Income Inequality and Affective Social Solidarity Research Seminar Solidarity and Diversity November...
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Transcript of Income Inequality and Affective Social Solidarity Research Seminar Solidarity and Diversity November...
Income Inequality and Affective Social Solidarity
Research Seminar Solidarity and Diversity
November 29, 2010Amsterdam
Marii Paškov & Caroline DewildeUvA/AISSR
Aim of the Paper• Make a distinction between calculating and affective
solidarity (Beer and Koster, 2009)
• Relate calculating and affective solidarity to research studying attitudes towards the welfare state
• Focus on Affective SolidarityRodger (2003): Research on popular support for the welfare state has overlooked the question of how people feel
• Study the relationship between income inequality and affective solidarity
Solidarity
Calculating• Economic approach
• Self-interest – rationally calculating individuals
• Fostered by awareness of mutual dependence
Affective• Sociological approach
• Feeling of affection, sympathy, care and concern for others
• Fostered by a sense of community, fellowship and neighborliness, strive for a common good
Welfare State and Solidarity
• Calculating Solidarity– Self-interest and mutual dependence
(interdependency) (De Swaan, 1988)
• Affective Solidarity– Expresses concern, care and a wish to assist the
survival of others (Titmuss, 1976)
Measuring Attitudes towards the Welfare State
• Demand for redistribution• E.g. ‘government should take measures to reduce
differences in income levels’ • Blurry variable Inconsistent results
E.g. Finseraas, 2009; Lane Kenworthy & McCall, 2008; Lübker, 2007
• ‘Dependent variable’ challenge (Jæger, 2006): difficulty of creating exhaustive dependent variables to study support for the welfare state
Inequality and Calculating Solidarity Meltzer-Richard Model
• Higher inequality – greater distance between the mean and median income
• Under majority rule the median income holder is decisive
• Decisive actor will make a decision to maximize his or her utility – demand for redistribution
Calculating Solidarity
Self-interest
Macro condition: Income Inequality
Inequality*self-interest =
More calculating solidarity
Inequality*self-interest =
More calculating solidarity
Inequality and Affective Solidarity
Calculating Solidarity
Self-interest Moral considerations
Macro condition: Income Inequality
Affective Solidarity
Inequality*self-interest =
More calculating solidarity
Inequality*self-interest =
More calculating solidarity
Inequality*moral considerations =
?
Inequality*moral considerations =
?
Heterogeneity and Solidarity
• Heterogeneity – difference, diversity
• Heterogeneity (ethnic, religious, linguistic) destructs social cohesion, trust and solidarity
E.g. Alesina et al., 2001; Putnam, 2000; Schubert & Tweed, 2004
• Homogeneity (similarity) breeds feelings of fellowship and solidarity
Income inequality and Affective Solidarity
• Income inequality – heterogeneity of economic conditions
• Inequality creates mental and physical distance• Inequality poisons social relationships (Titmuss, 1976)• Different life-style• Less daily interaction (schools, hospitals, neighborhoods),
but community spirit is fostered by face-to-face interaction
Hypothesis: There is a negative relationship between income
inequality and affective solidarity
Calculating Solidarity
Self-interest Moral considerations
Macro condition: Economic Inequality
Affective Solidarity
Inequality*self-interest =
More calculating solidarity
Inequality*self-interest =
More calculating solidarity
Inequality*moral considerations = Less affective
solidarity
Inequality*moral considerations = Less affective
solidarity
Support for the Welfare State
Data and Method
• European Value Survey 1999
• 28 countries and 33 997 individuals in Europe
• Multilevel Analysis
Affective Solidarity
• Concerned about elderly“To what extent do you feel concerned about the living conditions of elderly
people in your country?”• Concerned about sick and disabled“To what extent do you feel concerned about the living conditions sick and
disabled people in your country?”• Willingness to help elderly
“Would you be prepared to actually do something to improve the conditions of elderly people in your country?”
• Willingness to help sick and disabled“Would you be prepared to actually do something to improve the conditions
of sick and disabled people in your country.”
Cronbach’s alpha: 82.5
Independent Variables• Income inequality – GINI coefficient
• Poverty, GDP
• Neo-liberalism (welfare regime) (Coburn, 2000)
• Ethnic fractionalization (Alesina et al., 2003)
• Religion
• Individual level variables: gender, education, income, retired (dummy)
Comparison of country means
Income Inequality and Affective Solidarity
Affective Solidarity, Multilevel Analysis
Support for Redistribution
• Should the state eliminate big inequalities in income between citizens?
No effect of income inequality
• Individuals should take more responsibility for providing for themselves vs. The state should take more responsibility to ensure that everyone is provided for
No effect of income inequality
Conclusion• We find a negative relationship between income
inequality and affective solidarity
• Higher income inequality is related to lower levels of concern for the living conditions of the needy and less willingness to help to improve the living conditions of the needy
• Relationship between income inequality and affective
solidarity is different from what has been proposed so far about the relationship between inequality and calculating solidarity
Remarks on Methodology• Nature of the research question: macro*micro • Time dimension (1999, 2008)
• Relation to previous research
• Measuring affective solidarity
• Causality