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How fair are unemployment benefits? The experience of East Asia

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  • Gyu‐Jin Hwang

Abstract

Despite an increasing emphasis on active labour market measures, unemployment benefits still remain a focal point of employment protection. This article takes the cases of four East Asian economies – China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China) –, which are often characterized as having welfare states with a strong developmental and productivist orientation, to investigate whether, as is sometimes argued, unemployment benefits are restrictive and exclusionary. In doing so, it examines the logic behind the design of unemployment benefits and argues that they are in fact progressive in design and fair when they pay out. Nonetheless, low effective coverage and low benefit rates weaken their redistribution and compensation objectives. Bien que les mesures actives du marché du travail occupent une place grandissante, les prestations de chômage demeurent au cœur des dispositifs de protection de l’emploi. Dans cet article, l’auteur prend l’exemple de quatre économies d’Asie de l’Est – Chine, République de Corée, Japon et Taïwan (Chine) – dotées de systèmes de protection sociale souvent considérés comme fortement orientés vers le développement et le productivisme, et examine si, comme on l’avance parfois, les prestations de chômage qu’ils versent sont restrictives et peu inclusives. Pour ce faire, il analyse la logique sur laquelle repose l’élaboration des dispositifs d’indemnisation du chômage et avance qu’ils sont en réalité progressistes dans leur conception et équitables du point de vue des prestations servies. Néanmoins, la faiblesse de la couverture effective et le montant peu élevé des prestations les empêchent d’atteindre pleinement leurs objectifs de redistribution et d’indemnisation. A pesar de que cada vez se hace más hincapié en la adopción de medidas activas del mercado de trabajo, las prestaciones de desempleo siguen constituyendo un elemento clave de la protección del empleo. En este artículo se presentan los casos de cuatro economías de Asia Oriental, a saber, China, el Japón, la República de Corea y Taiwán (China), que suelen estar dotadas de sistemas de bienestar con una notable orientación al desarrollo y la productividad, con el objeto de analizar si las prestaciones de desempleo son restrictivas y excluyentes, como a veces se sostiene. Para ello, se examina la lógica en la que se basa el diseño de las prestaciones de desempleo y se argumenta que estas son efectivamente de carácter progresivo y justas en lo que respecta al pago. Sin embargo, la escasa cobertura efectiva y la baja cuantía de las prestaciones imposibilitan la consecución de su objetivo de redistribución y de indemnización. Arbeitslosenleistungen sind trotz des vermehrten Einsatzes aktiver Arbeitsmarktmaßnahmen nach wie vor ein wichtiger Bestandteil des Arbeitnehmerschutzes. In diesem Artikel werden vier ostasiatische Volkswirtschaften untersucht – China, Japan, die Republik Korea und Taiwan (Republik China) –, die oft als Wohlfahrtsstaaten mit einer starken Entwicklungs‐ und Produktivitätsorientierung bezeichnet werden. Es geht um die Frage, ob Arbeitslosenleistungen – wie dies manchmal behauptet wird – restriktiv und ausschließend wirken. Dazu wurde die Logik hinter den Arbeitslosenleistungen untersucht und es wurde befunden, dass sie in der Tat progressiv gestaltet sind und, solange sie tragfähig sind, gerecht ausfallen. Die Umverteilungs‐ und Kompensationswirkung kann jedoch durch eine geringe Deckung und geringe Leistungssätze geschmälert werden. Несмотря на усиление внимания к активным мерам на рынке труда, пособия по безработице по‐прежнему остаются одной из главных составляющих политики защиты занятости. В статье рассматривается опыт четырёх стран Восточной Азии – Китая, Японии, Республики Кореи и Тайваня (Китай), – которые часто характеризуются как государства всеобщего благоденствия с сильной ориентацией на содействие развитию и производительности; автор пытается выяснить, являются ли пособия по безработице – как это порой утверждается – ограничительными и исключительными по своему характеру. При этом он анализирует структуру пособий по безработице и утверждает, что на самом деле они прогрессивны по сути и справедливы в момент выплаты. Тем не менее узкий эффективный охват и низкие ставки пособий ослабляют их перераспределительный и компенсационный эффект. 尽管越来越重视积极劳动力市场措施,失业待遇仍是就业保护的一项重点。本文以中国、日本、韩国和台湾 (中国)四个东亚经济体为例—它们通常以拥有强大发展和生产主义导向的福利制度为特征,研究是否如有时被认为的那样,失业待遇具有限制性和排他性。在这一过程中,文章还探索失业待遇设计背后的逻辑,认为它们在设计上是循序渐进的,在给付时是公平的。然而,较低的有效覆盖以及较低待遇水平削弱了其再分配和补偿目标。 بالرغم من التركيز المتزايد على اتخاذ تدابير سوق العمل الفاعلة، مازالت إعانات البطالة تشكل بؤرة محورية في عملية حماية العمالة. وللتعمق أكثر في هذا الموضوع، يعالج هذا المقال أربعة أمثلة تتمثل في أربع اقتصادات في شرق آسيا، وهي: الصين واليابان وجمهورية كوريا وتايوان (الصينية)‐والتي تتميز غالباً بامتلاكها نظم الرفاه ذات التوجهات التنموية والمحفزة للإنتاجية القوية، وذلك بغية التأكد من حقيقة ما إذا كانت إعانات البطالة تقييدية وإقصائية فعلاً، كما تساق الحجة أحياناً. وبفعل ذلك، يدرس هذا المقال المنطق الذي يتبعه تصميم إعانات البطالة، ويؤكد بأنها بالفعل تدرجية التصميم، ومنصفةعند دفعها حسب الأصول. ومع ذلك، تؤدي التغطية الفعلية الضئيلة ومعدلات الإعانات المنخفضة

Suggested Citation

  • Gyu‐Jin Hwang, 2019. "How fair are unemployment benefits? The experience of East Asia," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(2), pages 49-73, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:intssr:v:72:y:2019:i:2:p:49-73
    DOI: 10.1111/issr.12202
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    References listed on IDEAS

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