IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/jgu/wpaper/2401.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

On Social Cohesion and Social Disintegration

Author

Listed:
  • Philipp Harms

    (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

  • Jana Niedringhaus

    (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

Abstract

In this paper, we argue that the recent erosion of the societal consensus in many democratic countries reflects a mix of economic and non-economic forces, which potentially reinforce each other. We present a simple model of a society that consists of different income groups, and in which the government uses redistributive taxation to maximize its political support. Under social cohesion, all citizens identify with the society at large, setting aside their own non-economic priorities and ambitions in the interest of the common good. We analyze the consequences of an exogenous identification shock, which induces high-income earners to no longer identify with the society at large. This shock forces the government to reconsider its tax policy and other citizens to reconsider their identification choices. We establish conditions that must be satisfied to prevent such a society from dropping into a state of social disintegration – i.e. a situation in which neither high-income earners nor low-income earners identify with the society – and highlight the parameters that determine the likelihood of such an outcome. Tentative empirical evidence supports the model's main hypotheses.

Suggested Citation

  • Philipp Harms & Jana Niedringhaus, 2024. "On Social Cohesion and Social Disintegration," Working Papers 2401, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
  • Handle: RePEc:jgu:wpaper:2401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://download.uni-mainz.de/RePEc/pdf/Discussion_Paper_2401.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2024
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Holm, Joshua, 2016. "A model of redistribution under social identification in heterogeneous federations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 39-48.
    2. Yuki, Kazuhiro, 2023. "Social Identity, Redistribution, and Development," MPRA Paper 115965, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Gene M Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 2021. "Identity Politics and Trade Policy [Economics of Identity]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(3), pages 1101-1126.
    4. Katharina Hartinger & Sven Resnjanskij & Jens Ruhose & Simon Wiederhold, 2021. "Individualism, Human Capital Formation, and Labor Market Success," CESifo Working Paper Series 9391, CESifo.
    5. Florian Hett & Mario Mechtel & Markus Kröll, 2020. "The Structure and Behavioral Effects of Revealed Social Identity Preferences," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(632), pages 2569-2595.
    6. Joseph Chan & Ho-Pong To & Elaine Chan, 2006. "Reconsidering Social Cohesion: Developing a Definition and Analytical Framework for Empirical Research," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 75(2), pages 273-302, January.
    7. Erik Lindqvist & Robert Östling, 2013. "Identity and redistribution," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 469-491, June.
    8. Abramson, Boaz & Shayo, Moses, 2022. "International integration and social identity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    9. Klor, Esteban F. & Shayo, Moses, 2010. "Social identity and preferences over redistribution," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(3-4), pages 269-278, April.
    10. Shayo, Moses, 2009. "A Model of Social Identity with an Application to Political Economy: Nation, Class, and Redistribution," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 103(2), pages 147-174, May.
    11. Moses Shayo, 2020. "Social Identity and Economic Policy," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 355-389, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abramson, Boaz & Shayo, Moses, 2022. "International integration and social identity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    2. Sanjit Dhami & Emma Manifold & Ali al‐Nowaihi, 2021. "Identity and Redistribution: Theory and Evidence," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(350), pages 499-531, April.
    3. Paetzel, Fabian & Sausgruber, Rupert, 2018. "Cognitive ability and in-group bias: An experimental study," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 280-292.
    4. Ghiglino,C. & Langtry, A., 2023. "Status Substitution and Conspicuous Consumption," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2324, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    5. Yuki, Kazuhiro, 2023. "Social Identity, Redistribution, and Development," MPRA Paper 115965, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Alastair Langtry & Christian Ghinglino, 2023. "Status substitution and conspicuous consumption," Papers 2303.07008, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2024.
    7. Benny Geys & Kai A. Konrad, 2016. "Patriotism and Taxation," Working Papers tax-mpg-rps-2016-11, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.
    8. Marco Manacorda & Guido Tabellini & Andrea Tesei, 2022. "Mobile internet and the rise of political tribalism in Europe," CEP Discussion Papers dp1877, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Nicolás Ajzenman & Bruno Ferman & Pedro C. Sant’Anna, 2023. "Rooting for the Same Team: On the Interplay between Political and Social Identities in the Formation of Social Ties," Working Papers 231, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    10. Erik Lindqvist & Robert Östling, 2013. "Identity and redistribution," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 469-491, June.
    11. Marco Manacorda & Guido Tabellini & Andrea Tesei, 2022. "Mobile Internet and the Rise of Communitarian Politics," CESifo Working Paper Series 9955, CESifo.
    12. Pierre Kohler, 2012. "The Effect of Host Society Culture on Migrant Wage Discrimination: Approaching the Roestigraben," IHEID Working Papers 08-2012, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    13. NAKAGAWA Mariko & SATO Yasuhiro & YAMAMOTO Kazuhiro, 2019. "Segregation and Public Spending under Social Identification," Discussion papers 19096, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    14. Lane, Tom, 2024. "The strategic use of social identity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 355-368.
    15. Joan Costa-i-Font & Frank Cowell, 2015. "European Identity and Redistributive Preferences," CESifo Working Paper Series 5412, CESifo.
    16. Holm, Joshua, 2016. "A model of redistribution under social identification in heterogeneous federations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 39-48.
    17. Muñoz, Manuel, 2024. "Identity change and economic mobility: Experimental evidence," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 493-509.
    18. Pierre Kohler, 2012. "The Effect of Host Society Culture on Migrant Wage Discrimination: Approaching the Roestigraben," IHEID Working Papers 08-2012, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    19. Grote, Nora & Klausmann, Tim & Scharfbillig, Mario, 2023. "Investment in identity in the field-Nudging refugees’ integration effort," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    20. Paetzel, Fabian & Sausgruber, Rupert, 2017. "Entitlements and Loyalty in Groups: An Experimental Study," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168224, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social Identity; Redistribution; Social Conflict;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jgu:wpaper:2401. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Research Unit IPP (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vlmaide.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.