Social capital has not been measured in any general way yet as previous surveys have used their own ad hoc methodologies. This fact is due to the heterogeneity of the very definition of social capital. Therefore, consensus concerning measurement has not yet been reached. Based on ten existing...

This paper argues for the importance of individuals’ tolerance of inequality for <p> economic growth. By using the political ideology of governments as a measure of <p> revealed tolerance of inequality, the paper shows that controlling for ideology improves <p> the accuracy with which the effects of...</p></p></p>

Previous findings suggest that income inequality leads to lower legal quality. This paper <p> argues that voters’ tolerance of inequality exerts an additional influence. Empirical <p> findings suggest that inequality leads to lower legal quality due to its effect on trust <p> while the tolerance of...</p></p></p>

This paper considers how lay theory and perceptions of issue ownership affect voters' expectations of political and economic developments. These expectations are likely to mediate the effects on subjective well-being of specific developments. Estimates employing a panel of 29 European countries...

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only caused millions to die and even more to lose their jobs, it has also prompted more governments to simultaneously declare a state of emergency than ever before enabling us to compare their decisions more directly. States of emergency usually imply the extension...

Nine out of 10 constitutions contain explicit emergency provisions, intended to help governments cope with extraordinary events that endanger many people or the existence of the state. We ask two questions: (1) does the constitutionalization of emergency provisions help governments to cope with...

Media freedom is often curtailed in the wake of terrorist attacks. In this contribution, we ask whether constitutional provisions that are intended—directly or indirectly—to protect media freedom affect the degree to which press freedom is curtailed after terrorist incidents. We find that...

In this paper, we revisit the association between happiness and inequality. We argue that the perceived fairness of the income generation process affects this association. Building on a two-period model of individual life-time utility maximization, we predict that persons with higher perceived...

We argue that perceived fairness of the income generation process affects the association between income inequality and subjective well-being, and that there are systematic differences in this regard between countries that are characterized by a high or, respectively, low level of actual...

In this paper, we revisit the association between happiness and inequality. We argue that the perceived fairness of the income generation process affects this association. Building on a two-period model of individual life-time utility maximization, we predict that persons with higher perceived...