scholarly journals A Critical Consideration of Current Social Insurance Policy Developments in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-11
Author(s):  
Simon Chapple ◽  
Michael Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Unemployment Insurance ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Insurance Policy ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Market Income ◽  
Major Reform ◽  
Alternative Solutions ◽  
Critical Consideration

Recent surprising announcements about the development of a social unemployment insurance (SUI) system by the Labour government are critically considered. Introducing SUI represents a major philosophical lurch from a welfare system mainly about family poverty alleviation towards one which has a stronger focus on market income replacement for individual low- and middle-income earners. We critically consider the policy process, the reasons why an SUI system might be desirable, and several alternative solutions to the likely proposal. We express scepticism about the democratic credentials of the process thus far and conclude that a persuasive case for such major reform has not yet been made.

Policy Entrepreneurship in Government: An American Study

1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore R. Marmor
Keyword(s):  
Social Insurance ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Fiscal Stress ◽  
American Study ◽  
Public Administrators ◽  
Insurance Policy ◽  
Policy Entrepreneurship ◽  
Policy History ◽  
Expansion Period

ABSTRACTThis essay contrasts the careers of Robert Ball and Wilbur Cohen, two American public administrators who have devoted fifty years to America's social insurance institutions, with other types of public actors, especially the in and outer rising spirally across departments, policies and administrations. America's separation of powers and federalism reward with influence those who combine entrepreneurial energy, long-term program commitment, and managerial skill; other political structures provide different patterns of opportunities and constraints. It then applies this perspective to Ball and Cohen's participation in three periods of American social policy history: the formation of federal social insurance policy (1935 to 1950); the expansion period (1950–1970); and the turbulent period of stagflation and fiscal stress (1972 to the present).

scholarly journals Social protections in Slovak Republic in the first decade of the 21st century

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-63
Author(s):  
Zuzana Macková
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Social Model ◽  
European Social Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Actual Content ◽  
Major Reform

The article is a critical analysis of neoliberal approach to system of social protection in Slovakia, especially after the year of 2004, when a major reform of the Social Security Law and social policy took place. The focus is on specific sub-systems of the social protection – i.e. the system of social insurance, the system of state support and the system of social assistance – in the light of the constitutional and fundamental principles of law (liberty, equality, justice and solidarity), the actual content of the abovementioned systems of social protection and values and principles of the European social model of welfare state – and leads to author’s overview of major flaws and spaces for improvement.

scholarly journals Fair and Inclusive Markets

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (29) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Aghion ◽  
Reda Cherif ◽  
Fuad Hasanov
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Growth Opportunities ◽  
Market Structures ◽  
Sustained Growth ◽  
Market Income ◽  
High Level ◽  
Export Industries

We show empirical evidence that there may not be a tradeoff between market income inequality and high sustained growth, which is key for poverty alleviation. We argue that the economies that achieved high sustained growth and low market income inequality are characterized by dynamism—a drive toward sophisticated export industries, innovation, and creative destruction and a high level of competition. What a country produces and how much it competes domestically and internationally are important for achieving fair and inclusive markets. We explore policy options to steer industrial and market structures toward providing growth opportunities for both workers and firms.

Chasing Informality: Evidence from Increasing Enforcement in Large Firms in Peru

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano Bosch ◽  
Stephanie González ◽  
María Teresa Silva Porto
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Large Firms ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Labor Control ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
One Year ◽  
Labor Market Regulations ◽  
Proactive Monitoring

Evasion of labor market regulations in middle income countries is systemic. This is generally known as informality. In Latin America, where less than 50% of workers are registered with social security, this is a permanent phenomenon and encompasses a variety of economic realities ranging from subsistence self-employment to evasion of certain regulations including social security contributions. In this study we analyze the role of enforcement in curbing informality in large formal firms in Peru, where informality levels are around 70%. Through the Peruvian National Labor Control Superintendence (SUNAFIL) we randomly sent 697 letters to formal Peruvian firms of more than 50 workers, indicating their obligation to enroll workers in social insurance systems (health and pensions). Two types of letters were sent, one with a deterrence message and one emphasizing the benefits of formalization. One year after the letters were sent, we found a positive and statistically significant effect on the number of workers enrolled in social security (9.8% on average). Only strict deterrence messages had a significant impact, and only in very large firms. This evidence suggests that there is room for improvement in compliance with labor regulations through more proactive monitoring and behavioral tools such as reminders, but effects could be concentrated in the largest firms.

Is Unemployment Insurable? Employers and the Development of Unemployment Insurance

1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabela Mares
Keyword(s):  
Unemployment Insurance ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Archival Material ◽  
Insurance Policies ◽  
Modern Welfare State ◽  
Policy Arenas ◽  
Shed Light

ABSTRACTIn order to shed light on the recent debates that are reinterpreting the role played by organized employers in the development of modern social policy, this paper examines the origin of the system of contributory social insurance during the Weimar period. Contrary to ‘laborist’ accounts of the origin of the modern welfare state that view the working class as the most important protagonist behind the transition from ‘assistance’ to ‘insurance’ policies, this paper argues that employers' dissatisfaction with the means-tested system of unemployment assistance and employers' endorsement of an insurance solution to the risk of unemployment remained the decisive factor leading to the introduction of the insurance system during the Weimar period. Drawing on employers' deliberations and archival material, the paper reconstructs the process of preference formation of German employers. The significance of a sectoral conflict between employers of large and small firms about the organization of the ‘risk pool’ within the system of unemployment insurance is also highlighted. While the existing literature fails to characterize employers' preferences towards social policies and to explain the variation in the degree of employers' support for particular social policies, this paper does so. Firms' preferences towards social policies can be analyzed along three dimensions: ability of social policies to redistribute risks, locus of control within alternative policy arenas and the costs imposed by different social policies.

scholarly journals Dependency Status and Demand for Social Insurance: Evidence from Experiments and Surveys

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S. Ahlquist ◽  
John R. Hamman ◽  
Bradley M. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Laboratory Experiment ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Insurance Policy ◽  
Mutual Dependence ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Asymmetric Dependence ◽  
Current Thinking ◽  
Unemployment Risk ◽  
The Welfare State

Current thinking on the origins and size of the welfare state often ignores household relations in which people may depend on others for income or have dependents themselves. The influence of “dependency status” on individuals’ political preferences is unknown. We report results from a laboratory experiment designed to estimate the effect of dependency on preferences for policies that insure against labor market risk. Results indicate that (1) willingness to vote in favor of a social insurance policy is highly responsive to unemployment risk, (2) symmetric, mutual dependence is unrelated to support for insurance, but (3) asymmetric dependence (being dependent on someone else) increases support for social insurance. We connect our lab results to observational survey data and find similar relationships.

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