Post‐socialist welfare system in the context of comparative welfare state study

Research Proposal for MDT Workshop

Akio KOMORIDA

(ISS, Univ. of Tokyo)

　　1. The final goal of my research will be to make out a methodological framework of analysis of the emerging post‐socialist “welfare system in the broader sense”.

　　One of the theoretical handholds will be achievements of comparative study of welfare state (or social policy) concerning the developed countries such as, for instance, Esping-Andersen’s typology (liberal, conservative and social‐democratic welfare states) as a frame of reference. To what extent are they applicable to the post‐socialist countries? What kind of modifications is needed? Or is it necessary to work out a completely different framework?

　　It will also important to identify similarities and differences between the post‐socialist countries on the one hand and Latin American and Asian countries on the other in this field.

　　2. Talking about “welfare system in the broader sense”, the following elements will be taken into consideration.

　　As components of the system,
　　　‐employment, income and income distribution system (wage, family allowances, pension and taxes)
　　　‐housing
　　　‐education and health care
　　　‐social assistance

　　As welfare suppliers,
　　　‐the central government and local self‐government
　　　‐social partners of industrial relations (trade unions and employers organizations)
　　　‐enterprises as a channel of welfare distribution and enterprises in welfare business
　　　‐NPOs and traditional social organizations such as churches
　　　‐family (when examining its functions, gendering is necessary)

　　The axiological foundation of the system in terms of
　　　‐equality and inequality or differential
　　　‐freedom of choice and social safety
　　　‐self‐determination/self‐responsibility and social solidarity
　　　‐social justice as a generalizing notion

　　Relationship between welfare system and economic system

　　3. Three overlapping factors will be examined as affecting the process of formation of the post‐socialist welfare system;

　　　‐legacy of the socialist welfare system; to what extent the post‐socialist welfare system will be “path‐dependent”

　　　‐transition from centrally planed to market economy; to what extent the features of the newly created welfare system will be determined by transition itself and to what extent by a chosen transition strategy,

　　　‐globalization; reintegration with the globalizing world economy and rolls of international organizations such as IMF, the World Bank, ILO, and so on

　　4. Two research strategies will be possible

　　　‐to describe and analyze the welfare system as a whole, including all of the above‐mentioned elements, in case of a selected country, for instance Poland

　　　‐to conduct a comparative analysis of several countries of the region picking up one or two elements of the system, such as Katharina Müller’s comparative study of Polish, Hungarian and Czech pension reforms (1999)