End of the Era of Productivist Welfare Capitalism? Diverging Welfare Regimes in East Asia

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Jun Choi
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Welfare Capitalism ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
State Regime ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Welfare Politics

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of recent transformations in East Asian welfare regimes, applying a ‘real-typical’ perspective, based on the ‘productivist welfare capitalism’ thesis of Ian Holliday (2000). Unlike Western welfare-state regimes in which the politics of austerity has dominated, the politics of welfare expansion has been noticeable in East Asian welfare regimes. This paper will analyse whether these changes have fundamentally dismantled the productivist feature where social policy is subordinate to economic objectives. While the trajectories are different depending on different political institutional contexts, this study shows that there are two strong signs that these states are moving out of their productivist nature and also that they are in the process of establishing their own welfare states. Japan seems to still be a productivist welfare-state regime struggling to accommodate rapid socio-economic changes, whereas Korea is a welfare state regime with strong liberal characteristics via modern welfare politics. Since the needs for social policy expansion in China correspond to economic and political needs, the productivist feature has been significantly weakened. However, this study argues that these transitory welfare regimes are in critical stages of formulating their new welfare regimes and that welfare politics based on contingent events could affect the future trajectories of these regimes.

scholarly journals Worlds of Welfare and the Health Care Discrepancy

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Bambra
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Health Care Provision ◽  
Care Provision ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Welfare State Regimes

The nature of welfare regimes has been an ongoing debate within the comparative social policy literature since the publication of Esping-Andersen's ‘Three Worlds of Welfare’ (1990). This article draws upon recent developments within this debate, most notably Kasza's assertions about the ‘illusory nature’ of welfare regimes, to highlight the health care discrepancy. It argues that health care provision has been a notable omission from the wider regimes literature and one which, if included in the form of a health care decommodification typology, can give credence to Kasza's perspective by highlighting the diverse internal arrangements of welfare states and welfare state regimes.

scholarly journals A MACRO-COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF WELFARE STATE CONVERGENCE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-32
Author(s):  
Ágnes OROSZ ◽  
◽  
Norbert SZIJÁRTÓ ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Comparative Assessment ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Welfare ◽  
State Regime

In this paper, we provide a macro-comparative assessment of welfare state convergence. Using the welfare state regime approach, the paper analyses the development of main welfare state indicators within in the enlarged European Union. In this study we capitalize on descriptive statistics and a single convergence analysis based on standard deviation in order to capture alterations in national welfare models of 26 European countries and among acknowledged welfare regimes. Our fundamental aim is to seize on long-term processes (convergence, divergence, or persistence), so we cover almost a two-decade period starting at 2000. Our results, in general, suggest that convergence among welfare states (different indicator of social spending) of European countries is particularly weak, however convergence inside welfare regimes is significantly stronger apart from the Anglo-Saxon group. The pre-crisis period was characterized by a stronger convergence among European countries as a consequence of economic prosperity and intense EU intervention.

Managing Social Change and Social Policy in Greater China: Welfare Regimes in Transition?

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ka Ho Mok ◽  
John Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Welfare Capitalism ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Greater China

Discussion of welfare regimes and welfare state ideal types continues to dominate comparative social policy analysis, but the focus of the debate has expanded considerably since the publication of Esping-Andersen's (1990) groundbreaking The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Shifts in this debate have been prompted by a mixture of theoretical and empirical concerns raised by comparative social policy scholars, but they have also resulted from a more general internationalisation of social policy research agendas within the academy too. In particular, there has been a strong desire to expand the scope of the debate to encompass nations and regions not included in Esping-Andersen's initial study of just eighteen high income OECD states.

scholarly journals Democratization, Political Parties and Korean Welfare Politics: Korean Family Policy Reforms in Comparative Perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 518-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soohyun Christine Lee
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Young Voters ◽  
Welfare Politics

Recent reforms of family policy signal a turning point in the Korean welfare state, as they undermine the welfare developmentalism that is commonly ascribed to Korean social policy. Drawing on the East Asian as well as Western welfare state literatures, this research seeks to understand the politics behind family policy reforms. In doing so, this research argues that political parties were the driver of these reforms, contrary to the conventional ‘parties do not matter’ perspective that dominates the East Asian welfare state literature. Utilizing the party competition thesis from the study of Western welfare states, this article demonstrates that political parties, the unlikely reform agency due to their perceived non-policy orientation, moved family policy to centre stage in election campaigns. Far-reaching changes in the electorate, namely the diminishing effect of regionalism and the increasing importance of young voters, incentivized parties to promote family policy. Thus, this research calls for bringing political parties into the analysis of East Asian welfare politics.

scholarly journals The worlds of welfare: illusory and gender blind?

2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Bambra
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Welfare Capitalism ◽  
Individual Welfare ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Policy Variation ◽  
Welfare State Regimes

The nature of welfare state regimes has been an ongoing debate within the comparative social policy literature since the publication of Esping-Andersen's The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism (1990). This paper engages with two aspects of this debate; the gender critique of Esping-Andersen's thesis, and Kasza's (2002) assertions about the ‘illusory nature’ of welfare state regimes. It presents a gender-focused defamilisation index and contrasts it with Esping-Andersen's decommodification index to illustrate that, whilst individual welfare states have been shown to exhibit internal variety across different policy areas, they are both consistent and coherent in terms of their policy variation by gender. It concludes, in contrast to both the gender critique of Esping-Andersen, and Kasza's rejection of the regimes concept, that the ‘worlds of welfare’ approach is therefore neither gender blind or illusory, and can, if limited to the analysis of specific areas such as labour market decommodification or defamilisation, be resurrected as a useful means of organising and classifying welfare states.

scholarly journals Democratization, post-industrialization, and East Asian welfare capitalism: the politics of welfare state reform in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Fleckenstein ◽  
Soohyun Christine Lee
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
East Asian ◽  
State Theory ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Welfare Capitalism ◽  
State Reform ◽  
New Politics ◽  
Political Economies ◽  
Production Regime ◽  
Post War

This review article provides an overview of the scholarship on the establishment and reform of East Asian welfare capitalism. The developmental welfare state theory and the related productivist welfare regime approach have dominated the study of welfare states in the region. This essay, however, shows that a growing body of research challenges the dominant literature. We identify two key driving factors of welfare reform in East Asia, namely democratization and post-industrialization; and discuss how these two drivers have undermined the political and functional underpinnings of the post-war equilibrium of the East Asian welfare/production regime. Its unfolding transformation and the new politics of social policy in the region challenge the notion of “East Asian exceptionalism”, and we suggest that recent welfare reforms call for a better integration of the region into the literature of advanced political economies to allow for cross-fertilization between Eastern and Western literatures.

scholarly journals Taking subnational and regional welfare states seriously: Insights from the Quebec case

2021 ◽  
pp. 095892872199665
Author(s):  
Pierre-Marc Daigneault ◽  
Lisa Birch ◽  
Daniel Béland ◽  
Samuel-David Bélanger
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Welfare Regime ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Qualitative Case Studies ◽  
State Research ◽  
State Regime ◽  
Quantitative Results

Most quantitative, comparative welfare state research assumes that subnational welfare regimes are irrelevant or identical to their national counterparts. Many qualitative case studies, on the other hand, have underlined the differences between subnational and national regimes. In this article, we attempt to build bridges between these two strands of literature by examining the case for a Quebec model, that is, a subnational welfare state regime that is distinct from its Canadian counterpart(s). We reviewed seven publications from which we extracted 188 quantitative results relevant to the distinct subnational regime hypothesis. Although not all these results are independent nor based on conclusive evidence, they generally agree that a distinct welfare regime exists in Quebec. We conclude this article by discussing the implications of the Quebec case for the study of welfare regimes at the subnational and regional levels.

The puzzle of Japans welfare capitalism: a review of the welfare regimes approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-110
Author(s):  
Martin Powell ◽  
Ki-tae Kim ◽  
Sung-won Kim
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Statistical Models ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Welfare Regime ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Theoretical Justification ◽  
Welfare Capitalism ◽  
Different Types

ABSTRACTThere has been little consensus on Japans welfare regime since Esping-Andersens [1990. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press] unclear categorisation of Japan as his only non-Western welfare state. This article is the first attempt to analyse academic research published in both English and Japanese. It presents a review of 40 collected studies (including 15 Western, 6 Asian and 19 Japanese articles), reached a wide variety of conclusions, defining Japan as eight different types: We point out that while the majority of Western studies tend to run statistical models including Japan among otherwise Western welfare states with little theoretical justification, Japanese scholars tend to focus on Japan as a single case. The two very different approaches may have something to learn from each other, as in thesis antithesis synthesis. Now that we are aware of very different approaches to and conclusions about Japans welfare regime, the topic appears ripe for greater co-operation between scholars.

Explaining Welfare State Adaptation in East Asia: The Cases of Japan, Korea and Taiwan

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gyu-Jin Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
North East ◽  
Social Policy Reform ◽  
State Regime ◽  
Welfare Production

Abstract A growing volume of literature suggests that the countries in North-east Asia are defying the productivist logic that has underpinned their welfare state regime. This article aims to unfold the developmental trajectory of welfare states in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. By combining structural accounts and political explanations of social policy reform, it discusses continuity and changes in the role of social policy over a stretched period of time. It then argues that although there has been significant change made to social policy in the region, structural conditions and the politics of expansion associated with them are yet to amount to a shift in the core foundation of their welfare production logic. The market-conforming role of social policy in East Asia has been persistent and, paradoxically, this explains their resilience against the forces of economic liberalisation.

Introduction: Twenty Five Years of the Welfare Modelling Business

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Powell ◽  
Armando Barrientos
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Comparative Political Economy ◽  
Subsequent Work ◽  
Welfare Capitalism ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Breaking Work ◽  
The Welfare State

Gosta Esping-Andersen's (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism has become one of the most cited works in social policy (over 20,600 Google Scholar citations; 20 October 2014). This path-breaking work, with its identification of three distinct forms of welfare capitalism in high income countries, has become the basis for a whole academic industry described as the Welfare Modelling Business (Abrahamson 1999; Powell and Barrientos 2011). According to Headey et al. (1997: 332), it has become a canon in comparative social policy against which any subsequent work must situate itself. Abrahamson (1999) notes that, since the publication of the book, every welfare state scholar has referred to Esping-Andersen's tripolar scheme. Scruggs and Allen (2006: 55, 69) remark that it ‘is difficult to find an article comparing welfare states in advanced democratic countries (or a syllabus on social policy) that does not refer to this seminal work’, and ‘it is hard to overstate the significance of the impact of The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism (TWWC) on comparative studies of the welfare state’. Its seminal status is evidenced by the extent to which it continues to be cited in articles on comparative welfare states. It also remains required reading for most (graduate) students of comparative political economy and social policy (Scruggs and Allen, 2008). Kröger (2011) claims that, with few exceptions, comparative social policy research is shaped by welfare regime analysis. Arts and Gelissen conclude that TWWC is a defining influence upon the whole field of comparative welfare state research (2010: 569). Danforth (2014) writes that the ‘three worlds’ typology has become one of the principal heuristics for examining modern welfare states. In short, TWWC is a ‘modern classic’ (Arts and Gelissen, 2002).

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