4. Reforms of welfare systems in Southern European countries
Convener: José António Pereirinha
4.A
Carrera Leandro (London School of Economics and Political Science, UK), Angelaki Marina (Scientific Society for Social Cohesion and development, EL) and Carolo Daniel (University of Lisbon, PT)
Structures, political competition and societal veto players: the politics of pension reform in Southern Europe
Murteira M. Clara (University of Coimbra, PT)
The Social Unsustainability of the Portuguese Pension System
Branco Francisco ( Catholic University, Lisbon, PT)
"The sun and the clouds": meaning, potential and limits of the primary solidarity in Portugal in the context of Southern European welfare systems
4.B
Figari Francesco ( University of Essex, UK)
Can In-work Benefits Improve Social Inclusion in the Southern European Countries?
Farinha Rodrigues Carlos (Technical University of Lisbon, PT)
Efficacy of anti-poverty and welfare programs in Portugal: the joint impact of CSI and RSI
Costa Giuliana (Politecnico di Milano, IT)
Fragmentation in care policies and provision at a local level as a challenge for welfare reforms: the case of Italy
Distributed paper
Amitsis Gabriel (Technical University of Athens, GR)
The impact of E.U. Social Inclusion Strategies on Mediterranean Welfare Regimes: Challenges for Greece and Cyprus
Although national welfare states are facing common challenges originating rising financial pressures to their state budgets, differences are to be found on the national experiences of reform of their welfare systems. The need to reform such systems is aimed at the trade-off triangle of objectives of adequacy, sustainability and modernization. But those challenges have different relevance and impacts on the various EU countries and, moreover, the various countries have different locations on the above triangle of objectives. The widely recognized distinctive character, within the EU-27, of the southern countries´ welfare systems, justify particular attention to the pattern of reforms followed by these countries, either on the demanding factors for change, the process of policy reform or the resulting policy outputs and outcomes.
Less mature welfare systems in these countries, combined with lower wages, explain that high generosity may co-exist with low pensions and, therefore, national “welfare gaps”. For these countries, the need of welfare reform has a different meaning when compared to other bismarkian countries, with higher wages and more mature welfare systems. This challenges the “classical” typology of the distinct nature of welfare reforms (making use of concepts such as “re-commodification”, “cost-containment” and “recalibration”), which is more appropriate for “mature” welfare states, as it was originally designed.
“New” concepts are required to take account of the distinct nature of the national “welfare gaps” on four distinct levels: on social rights, on structural needs, on the economic support of redistribution, on the institutional setting of the welfare system (welfare arrangement). Which welfare gaps are originating the need of welfare reforms? What kind of consequences of such welfare reforms on (new) welfare gaps and national conflicts? Another factor is that of the timing of welfare construction and that of Europeanization: do those countries, later constructors of their national welfare systems and late comers to the EU (except Italy), face a different timing and originate a different content for social reform? Another issue is that of the transnational diffusion of ideas and of social reforms, namely in the context of EU integration with new methods of policy coordination (“open method of coordination”). This approach is of high relevance in the present context of heterogeneous countries in their political power configurations and the extent of incorporation of the “European culture” in their domestic governance. How the countries conciliate, in the process or welfare reform, the national authority and domestic constraints with new coordination methods at the EU level? What is the impact of EU policies in the national welfare reforms? Are welfare reforms changing these welfare systems by converging them to the European “core” bismarkian welfare states? Are national “welfare gaps” converging?
We welcome papers that combine empirical analysis and theoretical approaches to investigate, in an inter-country comparative basis, the experience of the Southern European welfare systems, by looking at their recent experiences of reform.
José António Pereirinha
Department of Economics
School of Economics and Management (ISEG)
Technical University of Lisbon
Rua do Quelhas, 6
1200-781 Lisboa – Portugal
Tel: +35 1213979771
Email: pereirin@iseg.utl.pt
|
