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I wanna live my life: Locus of Control and Support for the Welfare State

Author

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  • Ludek Kouba

    (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno)

  • Hans Pitlik

    (Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO), Arsenal Objekt 20, 1030 Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to propose a general informal institution determining human ways of thinking and codes of behaviour, thus, in our case, individual support for the Welfare State. For that reason, we recommend employing the two closely related and complementary psychological concepts - locus of control and self-efficacy. We follow a comprehensive concept of the Welfare State, measuring attitudes towards government intervention and income redistribution, using the survey data from the World Values Survey, as well as different indicators for perceived governance quality. Our empirical results show that people with an internal locus of control and high self-efficacy believing in their ability to control their own lives report substantially less positive attitudes towards income equalization and government interventions. Additionally, a higher confidence in government actors and low confidence in major private companies amplify the Welfare State preferences under an external locus of control.

Suggested Citation

  • Ludek Kouba & Hans Pitlik, 2014. "I wanna live my life: Locus of Control and Support for the Welfare State," MENDELU Working Papers in Business and Economics 2014-46, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:men:wpaper:46_2014
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Locus of control; life control; self-efficacy; informal institutions; Welfare State;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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