8. Financing the welfare state
Conveners: Joakim Palme, Nathalie Morel
8.A
Turquet Pascale (University of Rennes II , FR)
Financing healthcare reforms in Bismarckian welfare systems
De Deken Johan (University of Amsterdam , NL)
Depoliticising the financing of the welfare state? Financial profiling and the hidden costs of privatised retirement provisions.
Büchs Milena (University of Southampton, UK) Sebastian Duwe (Hertie School of Governance, DE), Nicholas Bardsley (University of Southampton, UK)
‘Green’ ways of financing the welfare state?
Robert Arnold & Heinz Rothgang (University of Bremen)
Financing long-term care insurance – Reconciling a pay-as-you-go system with a partly funded system. A reform proposal for Germany’s long-term care insurance.
8.B
Buchinger Clemens and Schneider Ulrike (Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, AT)
Modelling and forecasting changes in the cost of long-term care. A critical inventory and a case study for Austria.
Johansson Peter (Institute for Futures Studies, SE )
Taxation and the politics of work and family life reconciliation: The case of tax reductions for household services in Sweden.
Nollert Michael and Schief Sebastian (University of Fribourg, CH)
International inequality as a financial source of the welfare state: the case of Switzerland.
Koreh Michal (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, IL)
Constraint or facilitator of welfare state development? The financing of Israel’s social insurance system
While there is a very rich literature on welfare state institutions and their development, much less research has been devoted to what has been – and will continue to be - a crucial underpinning of such development, namely the financing of welfare state programmes. Yet the financing mechanisms and the principles on which they rest allow for a number of interesting analyses.
They provide interesting insight into the nature of different welfare states, since they reflect different conceptions of solidarity and different redistributive ambitions. The type and form of taxes and other financing mechanisms can be expected to have an impact on redistributive outcomes, on the relations between different socio-economic groups, on economic behaviour, and on norms and expectations. Different types of financing mechanisms may enjoy different levels of legitimacy, thus bearing on welfare states’ capacity to reform and restructure.
New challenges are making the issue of the financing of welfare policies an increasingly critical aspect for the future of welfare states. Economic globalisation is reducing the possibility for nation-states to pursue their own tax policies and can lead to tax competition and thus to a downward pressure on available resources, while increased migration sets pressure on welfare states to harmonise welfare policies and their financing. Concomitantly, new needs are appearing linked to population ageing and a shrinking work-force and tax-base, which also call for a restructuring of taxes and benefits and new forms of intergenerational redistribution in order to ensure the sustainability of the welfare state. Furthermore, political conflicts can be expected to be stronger about financing than about issues related to the benefit side.
This stream invites multidisciplinary contributions addressing the issue of welfare state financing in light of welfare state institutions; political underpinnings; reform initiatives, constraints, processes and outcomes; political conflicts; and future sustainability. Comparative analyses are particularly encouraged.
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