Solidarity and Discrimination Within and Between Generations: Evidence from a Dutch Population Sample

Arno Riedl, Hans Schmeets and Peter Werner

No 11841, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Using an artefactual field experiment, we elicit revealed preferences for solidarity of different age groups towards the same and other age groups among a large and heterogeneous sample of the Dutch population. Preferences are elicited with a solidarity game and linked to a rich and unique administrative database, enabling us to explore demographic and socio-economic correlates of the elicited preferences. In the solidarity game a winner of a money amount is asked ex-ante how much they are willing to transfer to a loser who receives no money. We find that participants on average have a strong preference for ex-ante solidarity, as they are willing to transfer about 40% of the money they receive. At the same time, there is a mismatch between belief in solidarity and actual solidarity. Participants are overly pessimistic about what others will transfer. Moreover, we observe age-based discrimination because a significant share of participants exhibits stronger solidarity preferences with their own age group than with other age groups. Using questionnaires, we also measure stated solidarity preferences in various domains and observe that revealed solidarity preferences correlate with some self-reported attitudes about general solidarity. We also correlate revealed solidarity preferences with opinions on social security systems and self-reported field behavior involving solidarity and find some relation between them.

Keywords: solidarity; age groups; group identity; social security systems; large population sample. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D63 D64 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-dcm and nep-exp
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Working Paper: Solidarity and Discrimination Within and Between Generations: Evidence from a Dutch Population Sample (2025)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11841

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