This paper identifies six main theories of the determinants of social trust, and tests them against survey data from seven nations, 1999-2001. Three of the six theories of trust fare rather poorly and three do better. First and foremost, social trust tends to be high among citizens who believe...

Die Themen Lebensstile und Umweltverhalten haben, jedes für sich, während der vergangenen Jahre zunehmendes Interesse in den Sozialwissenschaften der Industrieländer gefunden. Der vorliegende Beitrag ist unter dem Eindruck entstanden, daß nun auch eine Kombination beider Themen, als...

In diesem Arbeitspapier wird die Verbindung zwischen individuellen Lebensbedingungen und dem subjektiven Wohlbefinden der Bevölkerung in den neuen und alten Bundesländern erkundet. Im vereinten Deutschland haben die Ostdeutschen auch zehn Jahre nach dem Fall der Mauer eine ungünstigere...

The question asked in this paper is whether modern societies enable the individual to lead a happier life. It was hoped during the Age of the Enlightenment that rationally designed social conditions would lead in the future to greater prosperity, more security and increa- sed happiness for all....

Die Eurokrise und die Reaktion der Politik auf sie hat das Vertrauen der Bevölkerung in die gemeinsame Währung erschüttert. Um das Vertrauen in das Eurosystem neu aufzubauen, sind verschiedene Maßnahmen erforderlich: Regeln für Verlässlichkeit und gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz, Aussichten...

Women earn less than men but are not less satisfied with life. This paper explores whether norms regarding the appropriate pay for women compared to men may explain these findings. In order to capture the spatial variation in such norms, we take community level information on citizens' approval...

[Introduction] Regarding moral concerns in the business sphere, integrity is often mentioned as one of the core values that guides the behavior of companies. Daimler for instance states: "Acting with integrity is the central requirement for sustainable success and a maxim that Daimler follows in...

We study the joint role of altruism and impatience, and the impact of evolution in the formation of long-term time preferences and in the determination of optimal consumption and optimal bequests. We show how the consumption paths of dynasties relate to altruism and to impatience, and we reason...

We use survey and experimental data to explore how effort choices and preferences for redis-tribution are linked. Under standard preferences, redistribution would reduce effort. This is different with social preferences. Using data from the World Value Survey, we find that respondents with...