The Greek vs. the Cypriot guaranteed minimum income schemes: an exploratory comparative analysis

Varvara Lalioti,Christos Koutsampelas

doi:10.1017/ics.2021.5

Abstract

AbstractThis exploratory paper utilises a comparative research approach to shed light upon the developmental trajectories of the Greek and Cypriot guaranteed minimum income (GMI) schemes. Our analysis indicates that, despite similarities (e.g. in the emergence of the two schemes, as part of the extensive reforms imposed during the financial crisis on the Greek and Cypriot welfare systems), there are also significant differences. These mainly relate to implementation and, ultimately, the “success” of the two schemes in attaining their declared goals. Moreover, we argue that the developmental paths followed by the Greek and Cypriot GMI schemes should be interpreted in the light of key variables (“functionalist,” “political” and “institutional”), often used to explain the establishment and further evolution of such schemes. Within this context, the relatively “superior” performance of the Cypriot GMI, compared with the Greek scheme, is largely attributed to factors such as government effectiveness and political stability.

Highlights

The aim of this exploratory paper is to compare the Greek and Cypriot guaranteed minimum income (GMI) experiences
In 2012, Greece, one of the few European countries and the last southern European country not to have experimented with a GMI, that is a complex means-tested social assistance scheme combining monetary and social inclusion components, adopted such a scheme
Cyprus proceeded to abolish its old-fashioned public assistance system, in order to substitute it with a fully fledged modern GMI in 2014. These interventions should be viewed in the light of the broad discussion about welfare state restructuring during and after the crisis (Farnsworth & Irving, 2015, 2017) and of how large exogenous shocks can open up a window of opportunity for non-incremental policy change (Starke, Kaasch, & Van Hooren, 2013)

Summary

Introduction

The aim of this exploratory paper is to compare the Greek and Cypriot guaranteed minimum income (GMI) experiences. Cyprus proceeded to abolish its old-fashioned public assistance system, in order to substitute it with a fully fledged modern GMI in 2014 These interventions should be viewed in the light of the broad discussion about welfare state restructuring during and after the crisis (Farnsworth & Irving, 2015, 2017) and of how large exogenous shocks can open up a window of opportunity for non-incremental policy change (Starke, Kaasch, & Van Hooren, 2013). These developments should be interpreted in the context of the extensive changes that took place over the same period in the so-called “southern European” welfare state model (Aguilar-Hendrickson & Arriba González de Durana, 2020; Perez & Matsaganis, 2019), to which both Cyprus and Greece arguably belong (Gal, 2010; Pashardes & Koutsampelas, 2016)

Varvara Lalioti and Christos Koutsampelas

Findings

Conclusions