Economic Insecurity and Social Policy Expansion: Evidence from Interwar Europe
What is the impact of economic insecurity on the development of institutions of social insurance? Existing studies have examined this question by exploring the impact of various measures of economic volatility on aggregate government expenditures or revenues. These aggregate data are, however, an im...
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Published in: | International organization 2004-10, Vol.58 (4), p.745-774 |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Article |
Language: | eng |
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Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | What is the impact of economic insecurity on the development of
institutions of social insurance? Existing studies have examined this
question by exploring the impact of various measures of economic
volatility on aggregate government expenditures or revenues. These
aggregate data are, however, an imperfect proxy of the character of
institutions of social protection. To overcome the limitations of
earlier studies, this article explores the conditions under which
economic insecurity leads to the extension of the level of social
insurance coverage. I argue that economic insecurity sharpens a
sectoral cleavage between coalitions in “high-risk” and
“low-risk” sectors. Workers (and some employers) in
high-risk sectors will favor the introduction of social insurance
institutions characterized by broad levels of coverage and a high
redistribution of costs across occupations. In contrast, a cross-class
alliance in low-risk sectors will oppose proposals aiming at the
introduction of redistributive social policies, fearing that these
policies will turn them into subsidizers of high-risk industries. A
redistributive social insurance policy will be introduced only if the
“high-risk” coalition is larger. The article tests both the
micro- and macro-level implications of this theory, by examining the
development of unemployment insurance policies in interwar Europe.I gratefully acknowledge comments from Carles
Boix, Peter Gourevitch, and two anonymous referees. Many thanks to Stefano
Bartolini, John Fitzgerald, and Michael Tomz for sharing data with
me. |
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ISSN: | 0020-8183 1531-5088 |