Distributive Justice Values and the Acceptability of Compensations in a Siting Conflict Context. C. Zwetkoff, University of Liège, Belgium
This paper discusses the results of a study (survey data) carried out in Great Britain and Belgium dealing with the acceptability of the principle of compensation and of its different forms in the context of individual acceptance of a major hazard. The study utilized a framework guided by the distributive justice theory and the conflict resolution theory. Hypotheses have been tested about the influence of individual, social, contextual and cultural sources of variation of the distributive justice values framing the attitudes toward compensation. A better understanding of the etiology of individual reactions to compensation is to be developed since the results suggest that existential standards such as proportionality (equity) do not fit to normative expectations based on the justice of need. An improved understanding of the values at stake, when the issue of compensation arises, is essential to the willingness of the stakeholders to accept discussing the appropriateness and the rules of a co-operative siting conflict resolution.