scholarly journals Classifying Welfare States Based on the Social Investment Strategies

2008 ◽  
Vol null (35) ◽  
pp. 29-59
Author(s):  
KIMKYOSEONG
Keyword(s):  
Welfare States ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
The Social

Measuring Social Investment Returns

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerlinde Verbist
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Short Discussion ◽  
First Order ◽  
Literature Overview ◽  
The Social ◽  
Investment Returns

The aim of this chapter is to assess different issues related to measuring the social impact of social investment strategies, and more specifically of publicly provided services. The chapter starts with a short discussion of the role played by services in the social investment strategy, as these services are often considered to be a more appropriate social investment instrument than cash transfers. This is illustrated by discussing the distributive effects of two types of publicly provided services, namely childcare and education. A literature overview is presented of how the employment and inequality effects of these services are measured. Both first-order and second-order effects are considered, thereby also indicating gaps in knowledge for a proper assessment of such services in the framework of social investment.

The Political Economy of Devolution

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Keating
Keyword(s):  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Institutional Capacity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Investment Capital

Small, devolved nations and regions lack major macro-economic powers. Yet in the context of spatial rescaling they have become important levels for managing economic growth and social cohesion. They may be exposed to a ‘race to the bottom’ by the need to attract investment capital. Yet, by adopting social investment strategies they can rec.oncling growth with social inclusion. The key factor is the institutional capacity to plan for the long term, to set priorities and to sustain cooperation among the social partners.

Changing labour markets, changing welfare across the OECD: the move towards a social investment model of welfare as a response to competition

2017 ◽  
pp. 33-52
Author(s):  
Naomi Finch ◽  
Dan Horsfall ◽  
John Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Investment Model ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Economic Competition ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Expenditures

This chapter examines in more depth one of the attempts to develop a ‘progressive’ modernisation of welfare: the social investment model. The notion of a ‘social investment welfare state’ has gained increasing ground over recent years, playing an important role in the discourse of international organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and EU. It forms a part of a number of concepts — others include ‘active social welfare’, the ‘new welfare state’ and ‘new risk welfare’ — that might be grouped under the label ‘new welfare’. All are based around a shared view that developed welfare states have begun to place less emphasis on income protection and more emphasis on investing in human capital. Put differently, they stress the growing importance of the ‘productive’ elements of social policy, chiefly on the basis that this may square the circle of maintaining social expenditures while responding to increased economic competition. The chapter then reviews how far reform agendas match the reality of the social investment model theory and, moreover, evaluates the effectiveness of the approach in reconciling social and economic pressures.

scholarly journals From social security to social investment? Compensating and social investment welfare policies in a life-course perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 442-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kati Kuitto
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Investment Policies ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Path Dependent

This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the forms and characteristics of social investment policies and their potential trade-off with social security schemes by assessing developments of welfare spending profiles in 23 European welfare states in the 2000s. I argue that if a social investment turn has indeed occurred, it is not necessarily at the cost of the ‘old’ compensatory policies. Instead, social investment policies and their relation to compensating welfare policies alter with regard to policies targeted at different life-stages and to the type of welfare regime. Therefore, the results attest to a path-dependent trend within the welfare regimes, the Nordic countries remaining clear forerunners in terms of both level and dynamics of social investment policies. European social investment strategies manifest mainly in policies targeting childhood and youth, while a trade-off between social investment and compensating policies is evident in working-age policies to some degree.

When voters favour the social investment welfare state

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 194-205
Author(s):  
Marc Brazzill ◽  
Hideko Magara ◽  
Yuki Yanai
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Investment Policies ◽  
High Productivity ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Policy Context ◽  
The Social

AbstractWe investigate when voters favour social investment. Welfare states have transformed their core policies as a result of low economic growth and fiscal pressures. The social investment strategy, such as broader education provision and promotion of women's employment, aims at shifting the economy from the traditional Keynesian welfare state to the high-productivity economy by encouraging long-term and inclusive human capital formation. Social investment is popular among citizens in many developed economies, especially in the EU where governments promote social investment as part of their welfare policy packages. However, in Japan, the term ‘social investment’ is rarely used in policy discussions. Consequently, we ask what levels of voter support social investment policies have in such an environment; which voter characteristics are associated with social investment support; and whether voter support for social investment differs when placed in a broader policy context. To answer these questions, we conducted an online survey with a conjoint experiment. Our data analysis shows that social investment policies are popular among Japanese people, despite a lack of familiarity with the concept of social investment. We find that social libertarians and female respondents are more likely than social authoritarians and male respondents to support social investment. In addition, there is some evidence that higher income voters are favourable to social investment policies. Furthermore, voter support for social investment depends on the policy context. Support becomes weaker when social investment policies are presented in combination with decreasing levels of social security spending. Our results highlight what kinds of social investment policies could be achieved without damaging electoral fortunes.

scholarly journals Which Roads (if any) to Social Investment? The Recalibration of EU Welfare States at the Crisis Crossroads (2000–2014)

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEFANO RONCHI
Keyword(s):  
Social Protection ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Euro Crisis ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Lisbon Strategy ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Fiscal Space ◽  
European Welfare States ◽  
Welfare Expenditure

AbstractThe social investment approach has been advocated as a blueprint for recasting European welfare states since the years of the Lisbon Strategy. After the Euro crisis squeezed the fiscal space available for welfare recalibration, the question has been raised as to whether social investment could withstand the economic turmoil. Relying on a new welfare expenditure dataset constructed from various Eurostat sources, this article looks at the budgetary recalibration of 27 EU welfare states from the launch of the Lisbon Strategy to the aftermath of the Euro crisis (2000 to 2014). It compares the financial efforts that governments have put into social investment- and social protection-oriented policies, highlighting the different trajectories taken by EU welfare states at the crisis crossroads. Four scenarios for welfare recalibration are put forward, based on the social investment perspective and its critiques. The results show that the overall progress made by social investment in welfare budgets since 2000 came to a halt with the outbreak of the crisis. Bleaker scenarios materialised, whereas EU welfare states pursued retrenchment rather than investment, or had to face harsher budgetary trade-offs, expanding social investment to the detriment of social protection.

The social stratification of social risks: The relevance of class for social investment strategies

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Pintelon ◽  
Bea Cantillon ◽  
Karel Van den Bosch ◽  
Christopher T. Whelan
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Investment Model ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact

Over the course of the past 20 years, welfare states are said to have evolved towards a ‘social investment’ model of welfare – characterized by a focus on equality of opportunity and upward social mobility along with a greater emphasis on individual responsibility. In view of these policy changes, it is necessary to assess whether traditional stratification cleavages (still) affect the occurrence of ‘social risks’. Using data from the 2005 EU-SILC intergenerational module, we consider the impact of social class (of origin) on a relevant selection of risks: unemployment, ill-health, living in a jobless household, single parenthood and low-paid employment. The results provide clear evidence of a substantial influence of social class. On this basis, we argue that social investment strategies need to take stock of the persistence of traditional stratification cleavages. Otherwise, a one-sided approach may create new forms of exclusion and give way to ‘Matthew effects’.

Introduction: social investments and welfare reform in Europe and East Asia

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Timo Fleckenstein ◽  
Soohyun Christine Lee ◽  
Young Jun Choi
Keyword(s):  
Social Issue ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
The World ◽  
Cautionary Tales

This chapter brings together leading experts from across two world regions, Europe and East Asia, to discuss social investment strategies — currently one of the most influential policy approaches around the world. It tackles some of the key challenges faced by contemporary welfare states — namely greater social inequality and the decline in social mobility. By inviting a number of authors to address the same social issue using different country cases (rather than just examining cases side by side), the chapter not only deepens our understanding of varieties of social investment strategies, but also discusses how some of the drawbacks connected to social investment may be overcome. The chapter shows that, despite remarkable differences, at the level of the problems associated with social investment measures, the countries studied also show significant similarities. Ultimately, it presents the case studies of East Asian countries which provide important lessons for benchmarking or cautionary tales for more established Western welfare states as well as the emerging welfare geography in the Global South.

scholarly journals Social Investment after Neoliberalism: Policy Paradigms and Political Platforms

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPHER DEEMING ◽  
PAUL SMYTH
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Inclusive Growth ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Liberal State ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
The Social ◽  
Productive Function ◽  
Growth Approach

AbstractThe concept of the ‘social investment state’ refocuses attention on the productive function of social policy eclipsed for some time by the emphasis on its social protection or compensation roles. Here we distinguish between different social investment strategies, the Nordic ‘heavy’ and the Liberal ‘light’, with particular reference to the inclusive growth approach adopted in Australia. In 2007, social democrats in Australia returned to government with a clear mandate to reject the labour market deregulation and other neoliberal policies of its predecessor, and to tackle entrenched social and economic disadvantage in Australian society. For the last five years, social investment and inclusive growth has been at the centre of the Australian social policy agenda. Against this background, the article examines and critically assesses the (re)turn to ‘social investment’ thinking in Australia during Labor's term in office (2007–13). Analysis focuses not just on what was actually achieved, but also on the constraining role of prevailing economic and political circumstances and on the processes that were used to drive social investment reform. In many ways, the article goes some way to exposing ongoing tensions surrounding the distinctiveness of ‘social investment’ strategies pursued by leftist parties within the (neo)liberal state.

scholarly journals Solidarity and Reciprocity in the Social Investment State: What Can be Learned from the Case of Flemish School Allowances and Truancy?

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
BEA CANTILLON ◽  
WIM VAN LANCKER
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Policy Paradigm ◽  
The Social ◽  
Disciplinary Policy ◽  
Policy Shift

AbstractIn this article, we discuss some of the new tensions that are emerging between the different foundations of the welfare state. Several developments have led to the advent of the social investment state, in which people are being activated and empowered instead of passively protected. We argue that this social policy shift has been accompanied by a normative shift towards a more stringent interpretation of social protection in which individual responsibility and quid pro quo have become the primordial focus. Using the Belgian (Flemish) disciplinary policy on truancy and school allowances as a case in point, we demonstrate that this social policy paradigm may have detrimental consequences for society's weakest: they will not always be able to meet the newly emerged standard of reciprocity. This implies an erosion of the ideal of social protection and encourages new forms of social exclusion. As these changes in the social policy framework are not confined to the Belgian case alone, our analysis bears relevance for all European welfare states.

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