Arbeitspapier

Why does the amount of income redistribution differ between United States and Europe? The Janus face of Switzerland

In this paper, the amount of income redistribution in the United States, the European Union, and Switzerland is compared and empirically related to economic, political, and behavioral determinants elaborated in the literature. Lying in between the two poles, Switzerland provides unique evidence about the relative merits of competing hypotheses. It tips the balance against the economic explanation, which predicts more rather than less income redistribution in the United States compared to the EU. It only weakly supports the political model linking proportional representation and multiparty structure (which also characterize Switzerland) to redistribution; yet the Swiss share of transfers in the GDP is low. Behavioral explanations receive a good deal of support from the case of Switzerland, a country that shares with the United States the belief that hard work rather than luck, birth, connections, and corruption determine wealth. In this way, the Janus face of Switzerland may help to explain the difference in the amount of U.S. and EU income redistribution.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: Working Paper ; No. 0810

Classification
Wirtschaft
Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
National Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
General Welfare; Well-Being
Subject
Redistribution
Income Mobility
Openness
Political Economy
Beliefs
Religion
Immigration
Einkommensverteilung
Soziale Mobilität
Verteilungswirkung
Politisches System
Religion
Soziale Werte
Einwanderung
Vergleich
USA
Europa
Schweiz

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Akkoyunlu, Sule
Neustadt, Ilja
Zweifel, Peter
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
University of Zurich, Socioeconomic Institute
(where)
Zurich
(when)
2009

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Akkoyunlu, Sule
  • Neustadt, Ilja
  • Zweifel, Peter
  • University of Zurich, Socioeconomic Institute

Time of origin

  • 2009

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