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The social dividend is the return on the natural resources and capital assets owned by society in a socialist economy. The concept notably appears as a key characteristic of market socialism, where it takes the form of a dividend payment to each citizen derived from the property income generated by publicly owned enterprises, representing the individual's share of the capital and natural resources owned by society.[1]
Although the social dividend concept has not yet been applied on a large scale, similar policies have been adopted on a limited basis. In both the former Soviet-type economies and non-socialist countries, the net earnings of revenue-generating state enterprises were considered a source of public revenue to be spent directly by the government to finance various public goods and services.[2]
The concept of a social dividend overlaps with the concept of a universal basic income guarantee, but is distinguished from basic income in that a social dividend implies social ownership of productive assets whereas a basic income does not necessarily imply social ownership and can be financed through a much broader range of sources. Unlike a basic income, the social dividend yield varies based on the performance of the socially owned economy.[3] The social dividend can be regarded as the socialist analogue to basic income.[4] More recently the term universal basic dividend (UBD) has been used to contrast the social dividend concept with basic income.[5][6]
- ^ The Social Dividend Under Market Socialism, by Yunker, James. 1977. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 93-133: "The term ‘social dividend’ was introduced in 1936 by Oskar Lange in his milestone essay ‘On the Economic Theory of Socialism’. It refers to the direct distribution equally among the citizen body of property income accruing to the state-owned enterprises under socialism."
- ^ The Social Dividend Under Market Socialism, by Yunker, James. 1977. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 93-133: "The social dividend concept has not yet been applied in any important real-world context. Both in Communist and non-Communist countries, the net earnings of state firms are considered a source of public revenue and are spent directly by the government on various public goods and services."
- ^ Social Dividend versus Basic Income Guarantee in Market Socialism, by Marangos, John. 2004. International Journal of Political Economy, vol. 34, no. 3, Fall 2004
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Tony (October 1, 1999). Freedom and Security: An Introduction to the Basic Income Debate. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 137. ISBN 978-1349405138.
The question we now need to ask is this: is there a form of BI which would eliminate the disadvantages outlined above but retain the benefits? Addressing this question requires us to look at market socialism and the socialist version of BI: a Social Dividend.
- ^ "European New Deal - DiEM25". Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 Website. DiEM25. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
- ^ Varoufakis, Yanis (2016-11-03). "A 'simple policy' to make a universal basic income a reality". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2021-01-20.