scholarly journals Why do inequality and deprivation produce high crime and low trust?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît De Courson ◽  
Daniel Nettle
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Mutual Advantage ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Current Resource ◽  
Optimal Action ◽  
High Crime ◽  
Model Features

AbstractHumans sometimes cooperate to mutual advantage, and sometimes exploit one another. In industrialised societies, the prevalence of exploitation, in the form of crime, is related to the distribution of economic resources: more unequal societies tend to have higher crime, as well as lower social trust. We created a model of cooperation and exploitation to explore why this should be. Distinctively, our model features a desperation threshold, a level of resources below which it is extremely damaging to fall. Agents do not belong to fixed types, but condition their behaviour on their current resource level and the behaviour in the population around them. We show that the optimal action for individuals who are close to the desperation threshold is to exploit others. This remains true even in the presence of severe and probable punishment for exploitation, since successful exploitation is the quickest route out of desperation, whereas being punished does not make already desperate states much worse. Simulated populations with a sufficiently unequal distribution of resources rapidly evolve an equilibrium of low trust and zero cooperation: desperate individuals try to exploit, and non-desperate individuals avoid interaction altogether. Making the distribution of resources more equal or increasing social mobility is generally effective in producing a high cooperation, high trust equilibrium; increasing punishment severity is not.

scholarly journals Why do inequality and deprivation produce high crime and low trust?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît de Courson ◽  
Daniel Nettle
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Mutual Advantage ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Current Resource ◽  
Optimal Action ◽  
High Crime ◽  
Model Features

Humans sometimes cooperate to mutual advantage, and sometimes exploit one another. In industrialised societies, the prevalence of exploitation is related to the distribution of economic resources: more unequal societies tend to have higher crime, as well as lower social trust. We created a model of cooperation and exploitation to explore why this should be. Distinctively, our model features a desperation threshold, a level of resources below which it is extremely damaging to fall. Agents do not belong to fixed types, but condition their behaviour on their current resource level and the behaviour in the population around them. We show that the optimal action for individuals who are close to the desperation threshold is to exploit others. This remains true even in the presence of severe and probable punishment for exploitation, since successful exploitation is the quickest route out of desperation, whereas being punished does not make already desperate states much worse. Simulated populations with a sufficiently unequal distribution of resources rapidly evolve an equilibrium of low trust and zero cooperation: desperate individuals try to exploit, and non-desperate individuals avoid interaction altogether. Making the distribution of resources more equal or increasing social mobility is generally effective in producing a high cooperation, high trust equilibrium; increasing punishment severity is not.

Dignity and Membership, Equality and Egalitarianism: Economic Rights and Section 15

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (02) ◽  
pp. 407-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Essert
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Mutual Advantage ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
In Virtue Of ◽  
Cooperative Venture

In this paper, I attempt to clarify the ideas of equality underlying section 15 claims for benefits such as welfare and health care; I use the name ‘economic rights claims’ for these types of claims. I adopt Joseph Raz’s division of equality claims into rhetorical egalitarian claims, which are based in a failure to equally respect a universal claim (and typically take a form such as, ‘All Fs have a right to G’), and strict egalitarian claims, which are based on an actually existing unequal distribution of resources (and take the form, ‘All Fs who do not have G have a right to G if some Fs have G’). I show how the dignity-based approach to equality stemming from Law v. Canada is an example of a rhetorical egalitarian claim. With this groundwork set, I turn my attention to the economic rights claims. I survey three reasons for thinking that an unequal distribution of some benefit might, even absent any failure to respect or recognize the dignity of those at the losing end, be thought of as wrong or unjust. The first two reasons - an appeal to an idea of sufficiency, and the fear that some stigma might be associated with the inequality - I reject in favour of the third, which is that in a situation in which all the participants have some equal claim to a benefit, a fair procedure will result in their benefiting equally. Following John Rawls, I suggest that our society, as a cooperative venture for mutual advantage, creates in its members at least a prima facie equal claim to share in the society’s benefits. The economic rights claims, then, are claims that this prima facie equal claim has not been respected. But the benefits being claimed for, as benefits created by the society, are not benefits automatically due to everyone just in virtue of their humanity, instead they are due to the worst-off once the best off have come to be able to benefit from them. Thus they take a strict egalitarian form - once some members of our society benefit in a certain way, then the equality of all members as contributors to the cooperative venture for mutual advantage implies that the other members of our society gain a claim to that benefit. The fact that these economic rights claims are strict egalitarian claims means they cannot be grounded in arguments about dignity, as dignity-based claims are rhetorical egalitarian claims for benefits due to all in virtue of their universal human dignity. I conclude by returning to Law to highlight a passage which I believe provides a grounding for a recognition of economic rights in line with my argument; I also make some brief comments on the need for a stricter division of labour between section 15 and section 1 in the context of economic rights claims and on the effect of this argument on Canadian federal law more generally.

Inequality of Opportunity in Mexico

2019 ◽  
pp. 134-158
Author(s):  
Roberto Vélez Grajales ◽  
Luis A. Monroy-Gómez-Franco ◽  
Gastón Yalonetzky
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Lower Bound ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
Inequality Of Opportunity ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Variable Bias ◽  
Unequal Opportunities ◽  
Available Information

Mexico is a country with high levels of inequality and low intergenerational social-mobility rates for those located at the bottom extremes of the wealth distribution. Although such low rates suggest that at least a share of the observed income inequality may be due to an unequal distribution of opportunities, this conjecture has not been thoroughly tested in the literature. The present article fills this gap estimating the lower bound of the contribution of unequal opportunities to income and wealth inequality in Mexico, with an operationalization of the “ex-ante” approach to the measurement of inequality of opportunity. Relying on a national representative survey designed for the analysis of social mobility, namely, the ESRU Survey on Social Mobility in Mexico (2011), we are able to define a broad set of circumstance groups (“types”), encompassing the wealth of the household of origin. This available information reduces the omitted variable bias of previous estimations and allows for a better account of the role of inequality of opportunity in income inequality. Our results show that the lower bound of the contribution of unequal opportunities to total income inequality and total wealth inequality is around 30 per cent, which is substantially higher than previous estimations for Mexico and ranks among the highest values in Latin America.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Economic Inequality in Colombian Daily Life: More Than Unequal Distribution of Economic Resources

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efraín García-Sánchez ◽  
Guillermo B. Willis ◽  
Rosa Rodríguez-Bailón ◽  
Juan Diego García-Castro ◽  
Jorge Palacio-Sañudo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Unequal Distribution

Exploring Female Entrepreneurship

2019 ◽  
pp. 239-258
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zakria ◽  
Paulo Miguel Vila Nova dos Santos ◽  
António Carrizo Moreira ◽  
Jorge Mota
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Female Entrepreneurship ◽  
Entrepreneurial Process ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Distribution Of Resources

This chapter addresses some of the misconceptions regarding female entrepreneurship and how different notions in different contexts lay the ground for further misalignments in the entrepreneurial process. It also addresses how contextual issues affect social and economic underpinnings in different countries. Stereotypes in traditional and modern societies and the barriers to gender equality results in unequal distribution of resources, which are further reflected on the characteristics of entrepreneurs leading to potential hindrances to female entrepreneurship from contextual issue. The need to recognize the diversity that exists among different contexts and the level of impact on female entrepreneurship is reflected on society. Finally, the chapter offers a tentative outlook for further research into female entrepreneurship through the discussion of contextual issues and conclusions.

The Market, Preferences, and Equality

1994 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin M. Macleod
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Distributive Justice ◽  
Ronald Dworkin ◽  
Individual Liberty ◽  
Equitable Distribution ◽  
Political Morality ◽  
Mutual Advantage ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Egalitarian Justice

The perfectly competitive market of economic theory often enters political philosophy because it can be represented as illuminating important values. Theorists who are enthusiastic about the heuristic potential of the market claim that we can learn much about individual liberty, the promotion of mutual advantage and efficiency in the distribution of goods by studying it. However, a principal limitation of the market for many theorists is its supposed insensitivity to the demands of egalitarian justice. According to the standard charge, markets—even idealised ones—are hostile to the achievement and maintenance of an equitable distribution of resources. It is striking, then, that a leading exponent of egalitarian justice like Ronald Dworkin should argue that there are very deep and systematic links between equality and the market. He contends that, contrary to the received view, “the best theory of equality supposes some actual or hypothetical market in justifying a particular distribution of goods and opportunities.” Moreover, the articulation of Dworkin’s influential egalitarian account of liberal political morality depends on acceptance of the market as an ally of equality. Thus Dworkin claims not only that the market plays a crucial role in the elaboration of a doctrine of distributive justice but also that it illuminates the distinctively liberal commitments to the protection of extensive individual liberty and to the requirement that the state must be neutral between different conceptions of the good. The aim of this paper is to raise some doubts about the soundness of one of the fundamental onnections Dworkin draws between the market and distributive justice.

Multidimensional, complex and contingent: Exploring international PhD students’ social mobility

Ethnicities ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 146879682096670
Author(s):  
Rituparna Roy ◽  
Shinya Uekusa ◽  
Jeevan Karki
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Class Identity ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Highly Skilled Migrants ◽  
Highly Skilled ◽  
Multidimensional Complex ◽  
Downward Social Mobility

This paper is a collaborative autoethnography (CAE) by three international PhD students from Bangladesh, Japan and Nepal who pursued (or who are currently pursuing) their studies in New Zealand. In contrast to previous research which largely advanced a simplistic, downward social mobility experience of international PhD students or highly skilled migrants in general, we argue that this experience is dynamic, complex and multidimensional in nature. In doing so, we turn to Bourdieu’s theory of capital. By focusing on less-direct economic resources (e.g. ethnicity, nationality, language and social networks), we explore the multidimensionality and convolution of our social mobility which stems from migration. Setting aside a narrative of adversity and downward social mobility among international PhD students, this paper emphasizes how we actively negotiated and dealt with shifting class identity and social mobility in the host countries.

Man: From Healthy Model to Deficient Creature

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-419
Author(s):  
Martin Dinges
Keyword(s):  
Good Health ◽  
Freedom Of Choice ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Health Politics ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Gendered Discourse

Abstract The recent discourse on health inverts the traditional positions of gender – where men are supposed to be in good health, while women are not. The contribution proposes answers to the question of why this discourse has emerged over the last twenty years. Furthermore, the important effects of this discourse on the constitution of medical and epidemiological knowledge are analyzed. Some effects were one-sided and therefore problematic for men as well as for women: This concerns the relation to their body and the gendered appropriation of what medicine offers. Men and women were distributed to different fields of practice separated by gender, which limited their freedom of choice. The gendered discourse has also impacted health politics, leading to an unequal distribution of resources often not in line with the actual needs of men and women.

scholarly journals Not all Lockdowns are Created Equal. Indian Migrant Crisis in Times of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
pp. 105-114
Author(s):  
Stany Babu
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
Income Generation ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
The Public ◽  
Internal Migrant ◽  
Urban Economic ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
The Many

The COVID-19 pandemic in India laid visible the stark disparity and unequal distribution of resources in the Indian society. With the imposition of one of the harshest lockdowns in the world , the migrant workers in the country (both interstate and intrastate) have taken the cruel brunt of this pandemic. These internal migrant workers were left in the urban economic centres (cities) with no proper housing, jobs (most of them being employed in informal sectors) and any form of income generation. This led to a mass exodus of migrant workers from urban centres to their rural homes in the hope that they may not go hungry and will have a roof over their heads. The global crisis brought to the forefront that the pandemic is being experienced differently by different economic strands of the Indian society. By severing the public transportation (buses and trains), to mitigate the risk of spread of the virus across districts and states , the migrant workers were denied the only means of affordable movement. This paper will chronicle the many obstacles and hardships that were faced by the migrants when public transportation was denied, on their long journey 'home', without any certainty of reaching their villages alive.

scholarly journals Social determination of the appearance of economic ventures in the rural settlements of the Szeklerland

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-112
Author(s):  
Zsombor Csata
Keyword(s):  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Rural Settlements ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
Accurate Picture ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Picture Show ◽  
Institutional Actors

The study draws a quantitative picture about the institutional actors of the private sphere of the economy in the three Szekler counties after the political transformations, it introduces the longitudinal trends of business foundations, and presents statistics related to the viability of economic corporations. Observing the map designed to illustrate the number of enterprises per one thousand inhabitants it could be concluded that the differences perceived in the intensity of entrepreneurial activity in the various communes cannot only be explained by the unequal distribution of resources, but specific structural differences of society must also be taken into consideration. Models created to provide a more accurate picture show that more intense entrepreneurial activity is likely to be found in settlements located in the center of the county, with a better infrastructure, higher reproduction indicators, and with a more significant, better qualified population capable of work

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