Envy and Blame in the UBI Discussion

Marcel Franke

doi:10.1515/bis-2021-0035

Article

Envy and Blame in the UBI Discussion

Marcel Franke

Published/Copyright: December 8, 2022

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From the journal Basic Income Studies Volume 18 Issue 1

Abstract

Envy and blame are two concepts that add social preferences to the economic behavior model of homo economicus. These have already been studied in general distributional issues as well as in the Edgeworth box. Building on this, these social preferences are examined specifically in the work-leisure model and applied to the example of a UBI. Here it is shown that envy is rather triggered by different endowments of individuals and blame only by different preferences. In the discussion about a UBI, this insight provides clarity about the normative basis of arguments against “free riders”. In terms of constitutional economics, envy can be combated through equality of opportunity, while blame can be contained through paternalism, at the expense of freedom of action.

Keywords: envy; blame; basic income; transfer; labor-leisure model

Corresponding author: Marcel Franke, Götz Werner Chair of Economic Policy and Constitutional Economic Theory, University of Freiburg Faculty of Economic and Behavioural Sciences, Rempartstraße 16, Freiburg im Breisgau, 79098 Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, E-mail: marcel.franke@vwl.uni-freiburg.de

Tools used: Translation from German to English with the help of www.deepl.com. Mathematics with the help of www.wolframalpha.com.

Appendix

Appendix 1

Setting the partial derivatives of the Lagrangian equal to zero yields

(1) δ L δ c = a c a − 1 l + λ = 0 ,

(2) δ L δ l = c a + w λ = 0 ,

(3) δ L δ λ = − w Z + w l − b + c = 0 .

From Eqs. (1) and (2) follows

(4) l = c a w .

Inserting into Eq. (3) gives the inner solutions.

Appendix 2

Logarithmizing with the natural logarithm ln the inequality gives^[6]

(1) a i ln ( c j * ) + ln ( l j * ) ≤ a i ln ( c i * ) + ln ( l i * ) .

Here the inner solutions are substituted according to formulas (6) and (7). Due to the assumption of equal restrictions w = w _i = w _j, b = b _i = b _j und Z = Z _i = Z _j it can be written

(2) a i ln ( a j ( w Z + b ) a j + 1 ) + ln ( w Z + b w ( a j + 1 ) ) ≤ a i ln ( a i ( w Z + b ) a i + 1 ) + ln ( w Z + b w ( a i + 1 ) ) .

Transforming results in

(3) a i ln ( w Z + b ) + a i ln ( a j a j + 1 ) + ln ( w Z + b w ) − ln ( 1 + a j ) ≤ a i ln ( w Z + b ) + a i ln ( a i a i + 1 ) + ln ( w Z + b w ) − ln ( 1 + a i ) | − a i ln ( w Z + b ) − ln ( w Z + b w ) .

(4) a i ln ( a i 2 + a i + d a i + d a i 2 + d a i + a i ) + ln ( 1 + a i 1 + a i + d ) ≤ 0 .

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Bianca Blum, Fabienne Hansen, and Clem Davies for their helpful comments.

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Received: 2021-09-27

Accepted: 2022-11-26

Published Online: 2022-12-08

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https://doi.org/10.1515/bis-2021-0035

Keywords for this article

envy; blame; basic income; transfer; labor-leisure model