Economie des solidarités -I- Forces et faiblesses des solidarités comme anti-marché

This paper is a general introduction to the economics of "solidarity" (principles, advantages, shortcomings, examples), first presenting the French origins of the term and showing the close links between the analyses of Léon Bourgeois (a French sociologist writing around 1900) and John Rawls. The specificity of the economic point of view is to consider public or private solidarities always in relation to, or in opposition to the market. Their principle of functioning - contractual obligations of reciprocal exchange over the long run between members of a given community - is radically different from market exchange. Their main role should be to remedy to market basic shortcomings, providing enlarged insurance (reduction of uncertainty) and fostering mutually advantageous cooperation between generations (through chains of "indirect" reciprocity). Their potential drawbacks are precisely the counterpart of their advantages over the market : free riding and moral hazard, horizontal inequity, arbitrary obligations etc.