Reappraisal of the Developmental Welfare State Theory on the Underdevelopment of State Welfare in East Asian Growth Economies: The Case of South Korea

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to re-examine the perspective on the relationship between East Asia’s growth economy and its underdevelopment of state welfare, by analyzing the Korean case between the 1960s and the 1980s, when active governmental intervention in the economy led to rapid economic growth. This article aims to answer the questions ‘Was state welfare genuinely underdeveloped under the growth economy of East Asia?’ and ‘If so, which factors hindered its development?’ To this end, this article first refutes the perspective regarding the underdevelopment of state welfare in East Asian growth economies, through an empirical analysis of the following: overlooking diverse indices in measuring the level of state welfare, a comparison without considering different budget systems, negligence of output aspects, giving undue value to quantitative methods and paying little attention to welfare beneficiary aspect. The article traces the reasons why the growth economy experienced the underdevelopment of state welfare using comprehensive frameworks: large-scale resource distribution to defense and education, low level of electoral competition, underdevelopment of socialist political parties, political authoritarianism and weak opposition, lack of social citizenship and preservation of family values, underdevelopment of trade unionism, and inactivation of civil society.