The Social Contract with Endogenous Sentiments

Matteo Cervellati, Joan Esteban () and Laurence Kranich ()

UFAE and IAE Working Papers from Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC)

Abstract: Moral values influence individual behavior and social interactions. A specially significant instance is the case of moral values concerning work effort. Individuals determine what they take to be proper behaviour and judge the others, and themselves, accordingly. They increase their esteem -and self-esteem- for those who perform in excess of the standard and decrease their esteem for those who work less. These changes in self-esteem result from the self-regulatory emotions of guilt or pride extensively studied in Social Psychology. We examine the interactions between sentiments, individual behaviour and the social contract in a model of rational voting over redistribution where individual self-esteem and relative es-teem for others are endogenously determined. Individuals differ in their productivities. The desired extent of redistribution depends both on individual income and on individual attitudes toward others. We characterize the politico-economic equilibria in which s

Keywords: Social Contract; Endogenous Sentiments; Voting over Taxes; Moral Work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D64 D72 H3 J2 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40
Date: 2007-03-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-cdm, nep-hap, nep-hpe, nep-ltv, nep-pbe, nep-pol and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Social Contract with Endogenous Sentiments (2015)
Working Paper: The Social Contracts with Endogenous Sentiments (2015)
Working Paper: The Social Contract with Endogenous Sentiments (2006)
Working Paper: The Social Contract with Endogenous Sentiments (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aub:autbar:702.07

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