Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/54913
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 3665
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Many European countries still provide their citizens with social insurance programs of unprecedented generosity. A cultural critique of the welfare state contends that generous social insurance has detrimental effects on work norms. This paper revisits the model of endogenous work ethic developed by Lindbeck and Nyberg (2006) and explores survey evidence on the relationship between social spending and pro-work attitudes. Both theoretical and empirical support of the cultural critique to the welfare state are found to be fragile. Furthermore, the empirical relationship between individual work ethic and individual income is shown to be non-monotonic, suggesting that weaker work norms needs not harm economic performance.
Subjects: 
welfare state
work ethic
symbolic values
social insurance
JEL: 
H20
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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