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Institutions and Institutional Purpose: Continuity and Change in East Asian Social Policy

Author

Listed:
  • Ito Peng

    (University of Toronto, Canada, itopeng@chass.utoronto.ca)

  • Joseph Wong

    (University of Toronto, Canada, joe.wong@utoronto.ca)

Abstract

Drawing on theories of institutional evolution, this article contends that despite the centrality of occupationally based social insurance in postwar Korea and Taiwan (and thus the impression of institutional continuity), the welfare state has in fact deepened considerably. The analysis is structured around three distinct eras of social policy reform in Korea and Taiwan: the developmental state, democratic transition, and postindustrialism. The authors contend that during each of these eras, the institutional purposes of social policy were altered to meet certain socioeconomic objectives. New institutional purposes were grafted onto the prevailing social insurance model, changing the outcomes of social policy. The developmental state era was productivist in purpose, democratic reform during the 1980s reoriented social insurance toward universalist and redistributive principles, and the post-1997 era refocused social insurance to meet the imperatives of flexible labor markets, demographic shifts, and economic globalization.

Suggested Citation

  • Ito Peng & Joseph Wong, 2008. "Institutions and Institutional Purpose: Continuity and Change in East Asian Social Policy," Politics & Society, , vol. 36(1), pages 61-88, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:polsoc:v:36:y:2008:i:1:p:61-88
    DOI: 10.1177/0032329207312180
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thelen,Kathleen, 2004. "How Institutions Evolve," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521546744.
    2. David Hundt, 2005. "A Legitimate Paradox: Neo-liberal Reform and the Return of the State in Korea," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 242-260.
    3. Thelen,Kathleen, 2004. "How Institutions Evolve," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521837682.
    4. Ian Holliday, 2000. "Productivist Welfare Capitalism: Social Policy in East Asia," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 48(4), pages 706-723, September.
    5. Yeun-wen Ku, 1997. "Welfare Capitalism in Taiwan," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-37787-5, December.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Fleckenstein, Timo & Lee, Soohyun Christine, 2017. "Democratization, post-industrialization, and East Asian welfare capitalism: the politics of welfare state reform in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69574, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Ratigan, Kerry, 2017. "Disaggregating the Developing Welfare State: Provincial Social Policy Regimes in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 467-484.
    3. Martin Hering, 2009. "A New Bismarckian Regime? Path Dependence and Possible Regime Shifts in Korea’s Evolving Pension System," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 262, McMaster University.
    4. Ito PENG, 2010. "The expansion of social care and reform: Implications for care workers in the Republic of Korea," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 149(4), pages 461-476, December.
    5. Youyenn Teo, 2015. "Interrogating the Limits of Welfare Reforms in Singapore," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 46(1), pages 95-120, January.
    6. Peter Evans & Patrick Heller, 2018. "The state and development," WIDER Working Paper Series 112, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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