The Moral Economy of Welfare States

The Moral Economy of Welfare Statesinvestigates why people are willing to support an institutional arrangement that realizes large-scale redistribution of wealth between social groups of society. Steffen Mau introduces the concept of 'the moral economy' to show that acceptance of welfare exchanges rests on moral assumptions and ideas of social justice people adhere to. Analyzing both the institution of welfare and the public attitudes towards such schemes, the book demonstrates that people are neither selfish nor altruistic; rather they tend to reason reciprocally.

Steffen Mau is junior professor in the Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS), University of Bremen, Germany.