Culture, diversity, and the welfare state

Klaus Gruendler and Sebastian Koellner
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Klaus Gründler ()

Munich Reprints in Economics from University of Munich, Department of Economics

Abstract: We examine how cultural socialization and diversity influence welfare systems. Our sample includes 134 countries (1975-2014). We employ spatial patterns and biological characteristics as instrumental variables for culture. The results show that culture is an important predictor for the generosity of welfare states: welfare provision is higher in countries with loose family ties and individualistic attitudes, high prevalence of trust and tolerance, and low acceptance of unequally distributed power. These channels explain 20-50% of the cross-country variation in welfare provision. Cultural heterogeneity (diversity) influences redistribution non-linearly: moderate diversity levels impede redistribution, while higher levels offset the negative effect.

Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published in Journal of Comparative Economics 4 48(2020): pp. 913-932

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Related works:
Journal Article: Culture, diversity, and the welfare state (2020)
Working Paper: Culture, Diversity, and the Welfare State (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lmu:muenar:84739

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