The social consequences of economic growth: the relationship between real household income and self-declared tolerance
Year: 2007
Type: other
Abstract: A widespread opinion, supported by many theoretical contributions of philosophers and economists, states that economic prosperity has positive consequences on material wellbeing which are traded off by negative “moral” consequences and social externalities. An opposite school of thought challenges this view by emphasizing that economic growth has also beneficial moral consequences in terms of higher tolerance, affection towards democracy, generosity and social consensus for competition. This paper focuses on the presumed positive effect of economic growth on tolerance, so far unexplored in the literature from an empirical point of view. Using panel data from the German Socioeconomic Panel on around 33,000 individuals over the period 1992-2004 we find a robust positive relationship between real personal household income and self-declared tolerance, both in levels and first differences. Our results suggest that growth may have positive moral consequences assumed that it translates from aggregate into individual level.
Language: English
Subfield: Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2187601716