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The Birth and Growth of the Social Insurance State: Explaining Old Age and Medical Insurance Across Countries

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Author Info
David M. Cutler
Richard Johnson ()

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Abstract

We examine the factors leading to creation and growth of national Old-Age Insurance (OAI) and Health Insurance schemes. None of the theories we test fit the data very well. There is weak evidence that the probability of adopting a system declines in a country's wealth and in the ethnic heterogeneity of its population. Catholic countries are more likely to create earnings-related OAI systems. The growth of OAI spending since 1960 has varied considerably across countries, with fast growth in countries emerging from dictatorship and non-English speaking countries. We conclude that social insurance can be politically expedient for many different reasons.

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Article provided by Springer in its journal Public Choice.

Volume (Year): 120 (2004)
Issue (Month): 1_2 (07)
Pages: 87-121
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Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:120:y:2004:i:1_2:p:87-121

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Jeffrey A. Miron & David N. Weil, 1997. "The Genesis and Evolution of Social Security," NBER Working Papers 5949, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Peltzman, Sam, 1980. "The Growth of Government," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(2), pages 209-87, October.
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  3. Naohiro Yashiro & Takashi Oshio, 1999. "Social Security and Retirement in Japan," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security and Retirement around the World, pages 239-267 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  4. Easterly, William & Levine, Ross, 1997. "Africa's Growth Tragedy: Policies and Ethnic Divisions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(4), pages 1203-50, November.
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  5. Cukierman, A. & Tommasi, M., 1997. "When Does It Take a Nixon to Go to China," Papers 30-97, Tel Aviv.
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  6. Willem Adema & Marcel Einerhand & Bengt Eklind & Jorgen Lotz & Mark Pearson, 1996. "Net Public Social Expenditure," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 19, OECD, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. [Downloadable!]
  7. Alesina, Alberto & Baqir, Reza & Easterly, William, 1999. "Public goods and ethnic divisions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2108, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Roubini, Nouriel & Sachs, Jeffrey D., 1989. "Political and economic determinants of budget deficits in the industrial democracies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 903-933, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Alesina, Alberto & Tabellini, Guido, 1990. "A Positive Theory of Fiscal Deficits and Government Debt," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 57(3), pages 403-14, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Nouriel Roubini & Jeffrey Sachs, 1988. "Political and Economic Determinants of Budget Deficits in the IndustrialDemocracies," NBER Working Papers 2682, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Browning, Edgar K, 1975. "Why the Social Insurance Budget Is Too Large in a Democracy," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(3), pages 373-88, September.
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  1. Perotti, Enrico C & Schwienbacher, Armin, 2007. "The Political Origin of Pension Funding," CEPR Discussion Papers 6100, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. J. Ignacio Conde-Ruiz & Paola Profeta, . "What Social Security: Beveridgean or Bismarckian?," Working Papers 2003-16, FEDEA. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 2002. "Social Security and Democracy," Economics Working Papers 621, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Rizzo, Giuseppe, 2009. "Fertility and pension systems," MPRA Paper 12998, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. J. Ignacio Conde-Ruiz & Paola Profeta, 2007. "The Redistributive Design of Social Security Systems," Working Papers 2007-07, FEDEA. [Downloadable!]
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