Responsibility-sensitive fair compensation in different cultures

Recently many philosophers and social choice theorists have questioned traditional welfare egalitarianism by introducing a notion of responsibility. They propose to distinguish between two sets of individual characteristics: those for which individuals are to be kept responsible and those for which they can be compensated. This approach raises the related questions of where to draw the line between these two sets of characteristics and how to operationalise the notion of ‘‘responsibility-sensitive fair compensation’’. The answers to these questions may depend on the cultural context. We present some empirical results from questionnaire studies in Belgium, Burkina Faso and Indonesia. The notion of control seems to play an important role in determining the variables for which individuals are to be held responsible. The strong notion of ‘‘full compensation’’ is clearly rejected in favour of more conservative distribution rules. Moreover, a large fraction of the respondents take the non-liberal position that the talented should be punished if they do not use their talents in a productive way. We find some intercultural differences. Belgian students are more in favour of redistribution. Indonesian students are the most conservative. Soc Choice Welfare (2003) 21: 207–242 DOI: 10.1007/s00355-003-0257-3 The authors thank André Watteyne and Miryam Wijaya for their help in administering the questionnaire study in Burkina Faso and Indonesia and Bart Capéau and two anonymous referees for their comments on a first version of the paper. Useful comments and suggestions were also made by Marc Fleurbaey. This research was partially funded by the European Science Foundation and by the TMR Network ‘‘Living Standards, Inequality and Taxation’’ (Contract No ERBFMRXCT 980248) of the European Communities. Responsibility-sensitive fair compensation in different cultures Erik Schokkaert, Kurt Devooght University of Leuven, Centre for Economic Studies, Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven, Belgium (e-mail: [email protected])