INTRODUCTION: COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEMS IN ASIA AND LATIN AMERICA —A Contribution to the Study of Emerging Welfare States—

Abstract

HE purpose of this special issue is to expand the discussions of comparative welfare state study, which so far has been basically limited to developed countries, to other countries where the social insurance system is being developed and improved. In some of the newly industrialized countries/regions in Asia and Latin America, social insurance systems are either available or under development with a view to covering almost all working people, and they also maintain a certain social assistance system. We call these emerging welfare states (see Table I). In this special issue, we intend to discuss the features of these emerging welfare states and the factors that have contributed to their formation. However, traditional comparative welfare state study was developed based on the experiences of Europe and the United States, and consequently it is difficult to apply it directly to the emerging welfare states whose historical backgrounds and political and economic conditions are very different. In this Introduction, taking these points into consideration, I shall first introduce existing welfare state studies in Europe and the United States, and discuss which methodology is applicable to our study subject. In the second section, making reference to previous welfare state studies concerning newly industrialized countries in Asia and Latin America, I shall describe the significance of this special issue. The third and fourth sections deal with the characteristics of emerging welfare states in East Asia and Latin America, respectively, and the factors that contributed to their formation. The fifth section deals with one country and one region that are economically still underdeveloped, but have developed basic social services and enjoy excellent levels of social indicators (Table II). In the last sixth section, the future challenges and tasks facing emerging welfare state studies are discussed.