Previous models of collective action assume that the network structure of individual relations that transmit social control mechanisms promoting or inhibiting collective action is given. An extended game-theoretical model that incorporates social control mechanisms as side payments and allows...

We present a model of preferences on welfare transfers, which incorporates the recipient’s wealth as a signal of needs and deservingness. We show that a paradox may arise: the poorer the recipient is, the less transfer he/she will get. Implications might include the negative impact of...

In the past two decades, many studies have warned of the role the popular media might play in the stigmatisation of the poor. Media reports about poverty often include references to antisocial behaviour, which make the principle of deservingness particularly conspicuous and could also strengthen...