Social Norms and Welfare State Dynamics

17 Pages Posted: 28 May 2003

See all articles by Assar Lindbeck

Assar Lindbeck

; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)

Sten Nyberg

Stockholm University - Department of Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Jorgen W. Weibull

Stockholm School of Economics - Department of Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Date Written: April 2003

Abstract

The paper analyses the interaction between economic incentives and work norms in the context of social insurance. If the work norm is endogenous in the sense that it is weaker when the population share of beneficiaries is higher, then voters will choose less generous benefits than otherwise. We also discuss welfare-state dynamics when there is a time lag in the adjustment of the norm in response to changes in this population share, and show how a temporary shift in the unemployment rate may cause persistence in the number of beneficiaries.

Keywords: Welfare State, Social Norms, Social Insurance

JEL Classification: Z13, D19, D64, H31

Suggested Citation

Lindbeck, Assar and Nyberg, Sten and Weibull, Jorgen W., Social Norms and Welfare State Dynamics (April 2003). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=400202 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.400202

Assar Lindbeck (Contact Author)

( email )

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CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

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Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) ( email )

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Sten Nyberg

Stockholm University - Department of Economics ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.su.se/~sn/

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Jorgen W. Weibull

Stockholm School of Economics - Department of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 6501
Sveavagen 65
S-113 83 Stockholm
Sweden

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

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