3 - Welfare Flashcards
What is the Coleman’s Boat/Bathtub
Model that described how individual level affects the macro level
Describe the Coleman’s Boat/Bathtub
Theory of individual behaviour: social expectations => individual actions
Changes in individual actions => macro level outcomes
Feedback loop: actions of one individual affects others, etc
How do you apply Coleman’s Boat/Bathtub when explaining differences in country’s welfare?
Capitalism was a result of Protestantism (values => economic behaviour => capitalism)
Values: work hard and invest money to be successful => capitalist values
What indicator can help predict value change?
Political trust.
The importance of political trust highly influences your individual actions (e.g., paying/feelings towards taxes, conformity, etc)
But fluctuates a lot
What is the modernisation theory?
Higher levels of socio-economic development => increasingly emancipative values (post-modern values) instead of traditional conformity values (modern).
What is the modernisation theory based on?
Needs-principle:
Scarcity => focus on values that reflect needs (survival, security) => limits human choice.
Abundant resources => more choice => focus on higher-ordered needs.
What is the socialization hypothesis?
Time-lag between changing socio-economic conditions and shift in values (generation replacement)
What is the process of post modernisation?
Socio economic development: Technological innovation + productivity growth + rising incomes => economic growth + prosperity => more resources
Increasing cognitive autonomy: more people capable of making autonomous decisions.
Increased with educational levels
Increasing social complexity: urbanisation => shift in type/frequency of social interactions.
Decrease in social control (looser social ties) + Increase in autonomy (diversity) => rise of emancipative values + weaker work ethics
What is the Social institutional theory?
Differences and similarities of countries institutions (e.g., churches, welfare states or schools) explain differences and similarities in value orientations (through formal and informal norms)
What are the sources of institutional influence regarding work ethics?
Culture (norms and value): path dependent (historical). Main force is religious heritage (e.g., Protestantism in past as a predictor of higher work ethic)
Welfare state: more generous => work is not a duty => weaker work ethic. Or scarcity hypothesis (can focus on other things)
Ex-communism: strongly propagated strong work ethics.
What other characteristics can explain work ethics?
Education: lower education => higher work ethics
Secularisation (separation from the church, results of modernisation: increasing cognitive autonomy + increasing social complexity => people leave church): but cannot explain differences due to religious heritage
Protestant countries are wealthier => more modern => more secular => less work ethic => Not true!
What is the Great Gatsby Curve?
Idea that if you work hard, you can achieve economic wealth (intergenerational mobility)
Based on Meritocracy, but background plays a big role in your life (e.g., nepotism) => meritocracy is higher in countries with a high Gini Coefficient.
What can predict intergenerational mobility?
Inequality: the american dream is not common in america since the higher the inequality the lower the chances for intergenerational mobility.
Are views on welfare state purely political?
No, findings suggest that perception of welfare state (e.g., makes people more dependent & economic burden vs support for redistribution) are not only political but also based on self-interest.
