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Social identity and redistributive preferences: a survey

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  • Joan Costa-i-Font
  • Frank Cowell

Abstract

Social identity is increasingly accepted as a key concept underpin- ning the endogeneity of economic behaviour and preferences. This feature is especially important in explaining redistribution preferences as well as attitudes towards redistribution and pro-social behaviour. This paper carries out a review of the literature on the question and ex- amines how economic theory conceptualises and empirically measures social identity and its effects on preferences towards redistribution, so- cial solidarity and redistributive institutions. Findings indicate that social identity does carries a weight in explaining the presence of social preferences and attitudes towards redistributive institutions.

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File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/44307/
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Paper provided by London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library in its series LSE Research Online Documents on Economics with number 44307.

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Length: 29 pages
Date of creation: 2012
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:44307
Contact details of provider: Postal: LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.
Phone: +44 (020) 7405 7686
Web page: http://www.lse.ac.uk/
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Keywords: social identity; preferences for redistribution; inequal- ity; diversity; redistributive institutions;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
  • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

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