Level Of Social Protection Research Articles

Impact of Food Safety Standards on Processed Food Exports from Developing Countries

This paper examines the impact of food safety standards on processed food exports in developing countries. An intercountry cross-sectional econometric analysis of processed food exports in developing countries was undertaken. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standard (SPS) is incorporated into the model to capture the impact of food safety standards. The empirical model shows that food safety standards imposed by developed countries tend to have a negative implication for processed food exports from developing countries. Since SPS is less transparent than tariffs or quotas, practically, there is ample room for developed countries to tweak the standards to be stronger than necessary to achieve optimal levels of social protection, and to twist the related testing and certification procedures to make their own competing products competitive with imports. However, because of the potential benefits that could emerge from imposing food safety standards such as a reduction of transaction costs and trade friction, developing countries should view SPS not just as a trade barrier but an opportunity to upgrade quality standard and market sophistication. Multilateral efforts are needed to mobilize additional financial and technical assistance to help redress constraints in developing countries in meeting the required food safety standards imposed by developed countries.

Welfare state regimes, unemployment and health: a comparative study of the relationship between unemployment and self-reported health in 23 European countries

The relationship between unemployment and increased risk of morbidity and mortality is well established. However, what is less clear is whether this relationship varies between welfare states with differing levels of social protection for the unemployed. The first (2002) and second (2004) waves of the representative cross-sectional European Social Survey (37 499 respondents, aged 25-60 years). Employment status was main activity in the last 7 days. Health variables were self-reported limiting long-standing illness (LI) and fair/poor general health (PH). Data are for 23 European countries classified into five welfare state regimes (Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian, Southern and Eastern). In all countries, unemployed people reported higher rates of poor health (LI, PH or both) than those in employment. There were also clear differences by welfare state regime: relative inequalities were largest in the Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian and Scandinavian regimes. The negative health effect of unemployment was particularly strong for women, especially within the Anglo-Saxon (OR(LI) 2.73 and OR(PH) 2.78) and Scandinavian (OR(LI) 2.28 and OR(PH) 2.99) welfare state regimes. The negative relationship between unemployment and health is consistent across Europe but varies by welfare state regime, suggesting that levels of social protection may indeed have a moderating influence. The especially strong negative relationship among women may well be because unemployed women are likely to receive lower than average wage replacement rates. Policy-makers' attention therefore needs to be paid to income maintenance, and especially the extent to which the welfare state is able to support the needs of an increasingly feminised European workforce.

The European Social Model and its Dilution as a Result of EU Enlargement

Social and labour market policies are not part of the obligations of European Union membership, or acquis communautaire; they are left to the discretion of member states. Yet both official EU documents and economic literature on types of capitalism refer to the European Social Model (ESM): for instance, a document of the Nice European Council of December 2000 states The European social model, characterised in particular by systems that offer a high level of social protection, by the importance of social dialogue and by services of general interest covering activities vital for social cohesion, is today based, beyond the diversity of the Member States' social systems, on a common core of values (European Council, 2000, para. 11, p.4). This characterisation was emphasised in the Barcelona summit of 2002 and on many other occasions, such as in European Parliament 2006.

The economic consequences of the welfare state

What are the economic and employment consequences of larger social insurance programmes? Are larger welfare states diverting resources from economic activity and distorting the investment decisions of firms? I examine theoretical and empirical research on the economic consequences of the welfare state. This review shows that the predictions of a negative relationship between higher levels of social protection and growth have not been borne out in the data. Both insurance programmes and other policies that increase investment in human capital or the overall productivity of workers generate important economic externalities that outweigh the potentially distortionary effects of higher taxes. Empirical studies also fail to uncover a consistent negative relationship between larger welfare states and the level of employment. The employment consequences of the welfare state are mediated by existing institutions and policies—such as the level of centralization of the wage bargaining system—which affect the redistribution of the costs of higher taxes among workers and firms. As a result, the employment consequences of larger welfare states are non‐linear.

Influence of mental disorders on working ability assessment

There is an increasing need for evaluation of working ability due to lower level of social protection of workers and growing number of patients with mental diseases in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). The aim of this study was to establish the influence of mental diseases on the occurrence of disability of I and III categories in B&H during the period from January 1st 2005 to December 31st 2006. This study involved 1792 examinees with the complete loss of working ability (I disability category) (n = 921). Disability category III consisted of persons with limited working ability (n = 871). The instruments of research in this multricentric and retrospective study were the forms P-6 and D-2 for the years of service in B&H, and the form IN for persons with years of service abroad and personal features questionnaire (EPQ). The study included 1494 men (78.5%) and 298 women (21.5%). Univariant analysis represented very high statistical significance (p = 0.001) concerning: age (X2 = 65.428), years of service (X2=28.438), drinking (X2 = 33.234), smoking (X2=70.880), father's education (X2 = 58.124), migrations (X2 = 14.874), sick leave (X2 = 29.190), medical treatment (X2 = 95.073) and rehabilitation (X2 = 29.453). Multivariant analysis represented the influence on disability cate gory I by parameters such as: years of service, sick leave, psychoticism and depression (p = 0.001). Hospital treatment and fatigation had influence on disability in both groups. Mental diseases are the leading cause in disability category I in 14.98% and in disability category III in 9.3% persons. Leading diseases in both disability categories were depression and schizophrenia followed by alcoholism, anxiety, brain organ psychosyndrome (BOPS) and other diseases. The following parameters have highest influence on the disability category: the years of service, sick leave, psychoticism, depression, and long-lasting disease, medical treatments and fatigation on the disability category III.

Smokescreen or Opening a Can of Worms? Workplace HIV/AIDS Peer Education and Social Protection in South Africa

The HIV/AIDS epidemic threatens amongst other things social protection provided in the workplace. Social protection comprises a range of rights and responsibilities that afford security to workers and their dependants. Any increase in diseases that impact on working age adults will have a detrimental affect on the levels of social protection that can be afforded. Additionally Rosen and Simon (2003) have suggested that private sector companies are shifting the burden of the disease by means of inter alia atypical employment forms and the capping of employee benefits. Such responses both reduce the overall level of social protection and increase differentials between core and peripheral workers within companies. Alongside any shifting of the burden of HIV/AIDS South African companies are actively implementing workplace HIV/AIDS programmes. These involve a number of components including HIV/AIDS peer educators who form a frontline of advice and support for workers. Drawing on research in five large South African companies this article assesses the activities of workplace peer educators (PE) and how this might impact on social protection in the workplace. (excerpt)

European social model vs directive Bolkestein

In this article is elaborated the actually question which is developed and discussed it the European Union is the European Social Model (ESM). It is a vision of society that combines sustainable economic growth with ever-improving living and working conditions. This implies full employment good quality jobs, equal opportunities, social protection for all, social inclusion, and involving citizens in the decisions that affect them. As the Euro-zone is struggling to move away from a dramatic slump in its economy and while the Lisbon Strategy and its potential for economic growth, strongly needs reactivation, the debates over the Europe have raised again the issue of a sustainable social agenda for the European Union. Recently, Europe's political leaders defined the ESM, specifying that it "is based on good economic performance, a high level of social protection and education and social dialogue". An important topic of the discussion nowadays is the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on services in the internal market so called "Bolkestein directive". The importance of this article is to give us the answer to the following question: would we have French goods available in French supermarkets all over Poland and no Polish services allowed in France? The EU would be unthinkable without the full implementation of the four freedoms. This is a good directive, going in the good direction.

Economic integration and cross‐border policy convergence: Social and environmental policy in Canadian provinces and American states

Focusing on social and environmental policy, this paper examines the hypothesis that policy convergence generated by continental economic integration will be greater among specific pairs of tightly‐linked American states and Canadian provinces than is evident in national‐level comparisons. First, the paper outlines a number of important reasons to expect that provincial governments in Canada are more susceptible than the federal government to pressures for cross‐border policy convergence. Second, the paper outlines a methodology for identifying tightly‐linked pairs of American states and Canadian provinces based on various measures of geographical proximity and levels of state‐province economic integration. Finally, the paper examines patterns of similarity and difference over time in matching state‐province pairs with respect to specific aspects of social policy (levels of social protection and income redistribution) and environmental policy (pollution abatement and control). In terms of these indicators, national patterns of convergence/divergence are not fundamentally challenged by sub‐national patterns of convergence and divergence. At the same time, patterns of similarity and difference over time for various subsets of matching state and province pairs generally differ in degree, if not in direction, from national‐level patterns. However, after 1995, there are some indications of a pattern that fits with the contention that convergence may be occurring at the state‐province level which is not evident in national‐level patterns.

Crafting Thailand's new social contract

This paper assesses the rise of the Thaksin Shinawatra government in Thailand. It examines this in terms of the social impacts and political ramifications of the Asian economic crisis. It is argued that the economic crisis threatened the economic and political power of domestic capital and smashed the developmental social contract that had underpinned growth since the 1960s. The social and economic policies of Thaksin's government are intimately related to domestic capital's struggle to re-establish its competitiveness and profitability. In order to ‘buy’ the social and political order required for this restructuring, the Thaksin government saw the need to construct a new social contract involving a number of policies that establish a higher level of social protection than ever considered possible in the past. The cases of soft loans to villages and a universal healthcare scheme are considered.

Fears in Post-Communist Societies: A Comparative Perspective by Vladimir s> Shlapentokh Eric Shiraev (review)

REVIEWS 12I and avoidance of shock therapy.Giatzidisprovides some horrificstatisticson the poor state of the economy, for example, the table on page 85 shows declining GDP percentage each year from I989-93. Economic recovery in 1994-95 gave way to an even greater decline in GDP in I996-97. Popular discontent finally brought about a change from the BSP government after 1997. Only by 2008 is the country likely to regain the level of economic development that it had in I989 (p. 93). Giatzidis explains the economic failingsmainly in termsof slowprivatization,which is linkedboth to low FDI, and to a mistaken and cumbersome agriculturalpolicy of land restitutionto the multiplicityof formerowners. Giatzidisis particularlyconcerned with the fact that although Bulgariahas a democratic multi-party system and now shows more tolerance to its minorities Turksand Roma-Gypsies it stilllacks a proper civil society. Non-governmental organizationsdo not play a full role in society due to the legacy of the former centralized Communist state system and resource constraintswhich limit theirparticipation.Giatzidismakesvariousinteresting suggestionsas to how the role of NGOs could be strengthened. The lastpartof the book turnsfromthe domestic situationin Bulgariato its international relations, particularlywith the former Yugoslavia,Macedonia, Turkey, and Greece. The reorientation of Bulgarian policy from Russia towardsthe EU and NATO is highlighted. Bulgariameets many of the entry criteria laid down by both organizations and has conceded increasingly to theirdemands, includingthose of the EU to close its importantnuclearpower station. Readers of the book might worrythat whilstBulgariahas made great strides politically, its lack of democratic consolidation, poor economic state and endemic corruption may pose real problems for the EU and its enlargement. Nevertheless, Giatzidis's focus remains fixed on the Bulgarian perspective. In all, this is a lucid study which refers frequently to other publishedworksand weaves the materialtogether in an informativeway that is accessibleto the reader. BradfordCentrefor International Development J. HARROP UniversityofBradford Shlapentokh,Vladimirand Shiraev,Eric(eds).Fears inPost-Communist Societies. A Comparative Perspective. Palgrave, New York and Basingstoke, 2002. xi + i63 pp. Tables. Notes. Bibliography.Index. C35.o0. THIs book provides a comparative analysis of peoples' fears in postCommunist societies. There is a useful introduction which examines the psychological and underdeveloped sociological research on fears. Data is obtained from a series of empirical projects, primarily national polls and surveys,pluscase studiesand focusgroupsin selectedcountries.These include Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine and Lithuania, plus Poland and the Czech Republic. The underlying economic, political and social basis of fears shows many similaritiesin these countries.They have switchedfrom a Communist system which provided high employment and a high level of social protection to a 122 SEER, 82, I, 2004 more uncertainmarket-basedsystem.The economic securityand certaintyof the past has been replacedby insecurityin which there are clear winners and losers. Income inequality has widened and the losers have had most to fear. Consistentevidence showsthat it is the young and the educatedwho aremore positive and adaptable,with fewerfearsthan the elderlyand the lesseducated who have found it harder to adjust. Apart from economic worries about poverty and especiallythe threatof unemployment, other qualityof life issues are surveyedsuch as health, environmentand crimeplus politicalchange and fearsabout governmentsand changing foreignthreats. Each country also has its own specificconcerns, more so in Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine, in comparison with the Czech Republic, Poland and Lithuania.The formergroupgenerallyfaredworseeconomically astheUSSR dissolved and they also suffered significantly from poor health, lower life expectancy and concern about environmental degradation. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor was a particular source of fear there. Nevertheless, even between the countrieswhich comprisethe formerUSSR therearedifferences, andBelaruswhich haschangedleasthasgeneratedlessfearanddissatisfaction. The main problem seems to be when rapid change occurs, expectations are not fulfilledand people are overwhelmedby a multiplicityof new problems. Each national chapter follows a similar pattern and generally strikesthe rightbalance between statisticalresults(oftenillustratedin tables),description and explanation. The book also includes two chapters which cover the fears of Russian immigrants in America and Israel. These provide original comparative material which fits within the frameworkof the book, but also provides valuable information on the migration processperse.It might have been better to move the final case study on Israel to chapter nine, dropping the American case essay which seems to add little, since it covers general problems and notjust fears.The conclusion to the book by the two editors...

Flexibility and Security: A Feasible Combination?

EU Member States are expected to modernise traditional frameworks for social protection in ways that promote economic growth. If organised in this way, social protection will help to create social capital and an inclusive society open to all.1 This trend is closely linked to the EU ambition to create a harmonious mixture of economic and social policies in order to enhance greater economic flexibility without abandoning the EU's core values of solidarity, social justice and social rights. A common EU strategy has been developed to assist Member States in developing this modern approach to social protection. This article explores the possible impact of this EU strategy. It argues that the European ambition to establish a harmonious mixture of economic and social policies has various weaknesses, which may hinder its successful realisation. If not addressed in an appropriate way, the intended harmonious mixture may eventually result in diminished levels of social protection and social rights.

Social Quality and the Policy Domain of Employment in Belgium

What's in a name? 'Social quality' is an attractive yet vague concept. It has an appeal in the context of post-industrial aspirations to rise above the quantitative and the material, towards qualitative, immaterial goals; it emphasises 'social' aspects that lie beyond individualistic preoccupations and are oriented towards considerations of collectivity and solidarity. These aspects can be represented in terms of two dimensions (Figure 1), where the notion of social quality is situated in the upper left quadrant. But does this show the real content of this 'container concept', and does it reflect present everyday reality? The concept of social quality has been adapted (or rather adopted) in the context of the labour market in terms of the notion of 'flexicurity '. We shall discover that to an important extent this notion includes both ends of the dimensions; in other words, it is not what it seems. At the end of the 1990s the Belgian economy showed a high level of social protection, even after decades of public debate on the shrinking the state. Recent decades had, for the most part, seen continued economic growth, with a boom during the late 1990s. Yet, at the same time, the full employment once achieved in the early 1970s remained a lost paradise, leaving a large number of people not, or no longer, active in the labour market. To put it another way, one substantial group was left with perma nent insecurity and the other with an increased threat of insecurity and pressure for more flexibility. This double dependency created additional pressure on the welfare state and public finances to accommodate these shifts, using means both traditional (unemployment benefits, early pen sions, training, family support, additional fiscal and parafiscal incentives) and new (new personal services, new combinations of work and family life, paid informal care and child allowances, time credits). The traditional role of the state, and particularly the welfare state, in insuring against and financing certain risks and needs throughout the life cycle of individuals and families, has involved socialising risk premiums. The traditional risks

Changing Employment Relationships and the Unintentional Evolution of Canadian Labour Relations Policy

As Lowe (in this issue) discusses, employment relationships have undergone significant changes in Canada, including the rise of non-standard forms of employment, new types of work organization and a much larger diversity in people's life course. Our current labour policy, which was designed to match the postwar Fordist model of employment, leaves large numbers of workers without an adequate level of social protection. This calls for major innovations in the regulatory framework applying to labour. Alongside the current policy regarding collective bargaining and minimum labour standards, new policies aimed at ensuring the well-being and the development of individuals throughout their career should be defined.

An Asset Theory of Social Policy Preferences

We present a theory of social policy preferences that emphasizes the composition of people's skills. The key to our argument is that individuals who have made risky investments in skills will demand insurance against the possible future loss of income from those investments. Because the transferability of skills is inversely related to their specificity, workers with specific skills face a potentially long spell of unemployment or a significant decline in income in the event of job loss. Workers deriving most of their income from specific skills therefore have strong incentives to support social policies that protect them against such uncertainty. This is not the case for general skills workers, for whom the costs of social protection weigh more prominently. We test the theory on public opinion data for eleven advanced democracies and suggest how differences in educational systems can help explain cross-national differences in the level of social protection.

Free Movement: The Workseeker as Citizen

This article is concerned with the legal position of Community nationals who move to another Member State in search of employment. Section II will summarise the traditional legal status of the workseeker viewed as an economic factor of production. Section III will explore the new legal status of the workseeker viewed as a citizen of the European Union. Section IV will offer some brief comments on the Commission’s 2001 proposal for an umbrella directive on free movement for Union citizens, and its implications for the migrant workseeker. It will be argued, through this analysis, that the institution of Union citizenship, so often criticised for its ‘us and them’ mentality in the treatment of third country nationals, is equally characterised by a ‘haves and have-nots’ approach to its own members—thus presenting a model which (albeit for perhaps understandable pragmatic reasons) is not necessarily in the best interests of maximising economic efficiency within the Common Market, places limits on certain of the political aspirations vested in the process of European integration, and questions the depth or at least the methodology of the Community’s stated commitment to attaining high levels of social protection.

Free Movement: The Workseeker as Citizen

This article is concerned with the legal position of Community nationals who move to another Member State in search of employment. Section II will summarise the traditional legal status of the workseeker viewed as an economic factor of production. Section III will explore the new legal status of the workseeker viewed as a citizen of the European Union. Section IV will offer some brief comments on the Commission’s 2001 proposal for an umbrella directive on free movement for Union citizens, and its implications for the migrant workseeker. It will be argued, through this analysis, that the institution of Union citizenship, so often criticised for its ‘us and them’ mentality in the treatment of third country nationals, is equally characterised by a ‘haves and have-nots’ approach to its own members—thus presenting a model which (albeit for perhaps understandable pragmatic reasons) is not necessarily in the best interests of maximising economic efficiency within the Common Market, places limits on certain of the political aspirations vested in the process of European integration, and questions the depth or at least the methodology of the Community’s stated commitment to attaining high levels of social protection.

Must we choose? European unemployment, American inequality, and the impact of education and labor market institutions

In the last 15 years, two equilibria have arisen in the advanced world. On the one hand, wage dispersion has widened in those countries where unemployment has remained low (with cyclical variations). On the other hand, wherever income inequality has remained unchanged, unemployment has shot upwards. To account for these distinct patterns, we develop a political–economic model showing that, controlling for the skills of the population, the effects of technological and trade shocks (that have affected OECD nations) that are contingent on the institutional rules in place. Economies with generous unemployment allowances adjust through subsidized unemployment. By contrast, low levels of social protection lead to less unemployment but wider wage dispersion. The level of qualifications of the labor force determines the extent of the adjustment for a given institutional arrangement. We derive, in turn, the institutional structure of each country from the political conditions in place at the time of the shock. The empirical part successfully tests the model for the sample of European regions and US states.

Ukraine Needs a Fundamental Pension Reform

Over the past eight years, Ukraine has seen a significant aggravation of social problems, resulting from a continuous decline in output. However, the current problems should not be attributed to the economic and financial crisis alone. Structural flaws of the social sector have aggravated the pain. A country's economy is an integrated organism, and its viability depends on whether it assures proper living standards for citizens. Given the scarcity of financial resources, the government is not likely to be able to offer Ukrainian citizens a satisfactory level of social protection, especially to the poorest population groups. If living standards are to increase, the country's economy must be successful. This article will focus on the structure of social expenditures. Arrears of payments are the key problem for all low-income groups, whether employees, pensioners, or low-income families. Payments are delayed not for days, as was often the case in the former Soviet Union, but for months. The pension system needs to be reviewed in detail. All relevant

Managed Liberalization of the Dutch Welfare State: A Review and Analysis of the Reform of the Dutch Social Security System, 1985–1998

In this article the changes that have been implemented in the Dutch social security system are analyzed. The extensive changes are characterized as a form of “managed liberalization.” This characterization points to the paradoxical nature of these changes. On the one hand a certain liberalization can be observed (an increase of social insurance and the administration of social security via the market) while on the other hand the control of the system by the state is also increasing. This process of managed liberalization, however, takes place under an umbrella of lasting universal social protection: entitlements are still determined by law and remain collective. In this article the changes in the Dutch social security are described extensively, interpreted theoretically and analyzed in their consequences for the level of social protection. By following the process of institutional change the system of social security has undergone, the authors also try to find out what the causes of the changes are and what determines the direction the process has taken.

Social protection and political competition

This paper analyses how the level of social protection is determined when its choice depends on political competition. First, this is done under autarky. Then the analysis is extended to take account of the existence of an international capital market. We show that social protection never increases under international competition and, in several circumstances, drastically decreases.