The demand for social insurance: does culture matter?
| Autor: | Beatrix Eugster, Rafael Lalive, Josef Zweimüller, Andreas Steinhauer |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | University of Zurich, Eugster, Beatrix |
| Rok vydání: | 2011 |
| Předmět: |
Economics and Econometrics
Sprache J21 media_common.quotation_subject Culture 2002 Economics and Econometrics jel:J64 jel:J21 Kultur Social group Social insurance ECON Department of Economics Sozialversicherung 10007 Department of Economics 0502 economics and business Schweiz Culture language preferences for social insurance spatial regression discontinuity ddc:330 050207 economics 050205 econometrics media_common Nachfrage language Soziale Gruppe 05 social sciences Sprachgrenze Regionale Disparität culture 330 Economics Work (electrical) Z10 Soziale Sicherung spatial regression discontinuity Demographic economics Business Ideology J64 jel:Z10 preferences for social insurance |
| Popis: | Can different social groups develop different demands for social insurance of risks to health and work? We study this issue across language groups in Switzerland. Language defines social groups and Swiss language groups are separated by a clear geographic border. Actual levels of social insurance are identical on either side of the within state segments of the language border. We can therefore study the role of culture in shaping the demand for social insurance. Specifically, we contrast at the language border actual voting decisions on country-wide changes to social insurance programs. Key results indicate substantially higher support for expansions of social insurance among residents of Latin-speaking (i.e. French, Italian, or Romansh) border municipalities compared to their German-speaking neighbors in adjacent municipalities. We consider three possible explanations for this finding: informal insurance, ideology, and the media. We find that informal insurance does not vary enough to explain stark differences in social insurance. However, differences in ideology and segmented media markets are potentially important explanatory factors. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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