Social Policy Research Articles

Breaking boundaries: the influence of social insurance collection system reform on corporate innovation strategies

ABSTRACT This study employs a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) approach to explore the impact of the exogenous shock policy of the Social Insurance Collection System Reform (SICSR) on corporate innovation strategies in China. The findings suggest that SICSR has a significant positive effect on corporate breakthrough innovation, while it does not impact incremental innovation. Moreover, the study finds that the impact is more pronounced among non-state-owned enterprises and enterprises with high-labour-intensity. Additionally, a mechanism analysis reveals that SICSR has a stronger promotional effect in regions characterized by high levels of marketization, while this effect diminishes as the level of corruption increases.

Labor market dynamics in developing countries: analysis of employment transformation at the macro-level

Understanding labor market dynamics remains a pivotal aspect within contemporary economic discourse, as necessitates the pursuit of effective employment models to ensure steady progress in the conditions of changes in the economic structure. The aim of the research is to examine the dynamics of the labor market in developing countries, with particular emphasis on China and Kazakhstan, taking into account economic, social, and technological trends. The methodology includes the analytic and comparison of trends in the labor market in developing countries, such as China and Kazakhstan over the past 20 years, and also monitoring the socio-economic nature of the labor process. The study identified changes in the labor market and provided empirical evidence for new forms of employment, utilizing comparative analysis and data visualization of the sectoral structure of the economy and global labor market trends up to 2027. The obtained results provide three main conclusions: a decrease in demand for low-skilled workers and an increase in demand for highly qualified individuals; the emergence of jobs with low levels of social protection; new forms of employment-oriented towards workers outside the social security system, domestic workers, and self-employed individuals. These types of employment can fill jobs in platform and piecework economies, cooperativism, and the sharing economy, which allows employers in developing markets to optimize employment. The findings of the study can contribute to understanding the functioning of the labor market in developing countries including the development of small and medium-sized businesses, startups, and innovative projects, and may be applicable in the development of economic and social policies for sustainable economic growth and social stability.

Domestic vs. Foreign Institutional Investors: Who Improves ESG and Value of Chinese Companies?

Recent years have seen the influence of both institutional investors and corporate social responsibility strengthen in the Chinese capital market. However, research on the impact of these market changes on corporate activities and values has been insufficient. To address this gap, this study analyzes the impact of foreign and domestic institutional investors who invest in Chinese A-share listed companies on corporate value through environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies. The results of the analysis are as follows: First, the shareholding of both foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) enhances corporate value. Second, the shareholding of FIIs strengthens the company’s ESG, while that of DIIs does not significantly affect it. Third, ESG has a positive impact on corporate value. Fourth, ESG partially mediates the positive relationship between the shareholding of FIIs and corporate value. The research findings provide academic implications for the causal relationship between corporate governance, sustainable management, and performance, as well as practical implications for the development of the Chinese capital market and corporate sustainability.

Abstract B139: Redlining bias and progression of chronic health conditions in survivors of childhood cancer: A report from the St. Jude lifetime cohort study

Abstract Background/Aims: Racial health disparities have been linked to racial and residential segregation. Redlining bias is a special form of racial and residential segregation involving the systematic denial of mortgages, insurance, and other financial services to racial/ethnic minorities. This study examined associations between redlining bias and the progression of chronic health conditions (CHCs) in adult survivors of childhood cancer. Methods: We included 1,670 adult survivors of childhood cancer from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study who had undergone two or more clinical assessments. Over 200 individual CHCs were graded using a modified CTCAE version and aggregated to determine the global CHC burden. CHC progression from baseline to follow-up evaluation was classified as either worsening over time (from Grade 2 to 3-5 or from Grade 3 to 4-5) or new-onset (from Grades 0-1 to 2-5). Survivors' home addresses at baseline (2007-2020) were linked to contemporary redlining bias data (2010-2017) created by Beyer et al. (J Clin Oncol, 2021). Redlining bias was defined as the odds ratio of a mortgage application denial for properties in a local area versus all metropolitan statistical areas and further classified as high (≥2.0), moderate (1.0-1.9), low (0.5-0.9), or least bias (<0.5). Multivariable logistic regression tested associations of risk for worsening/new-onset CHCs (vs. no progression) with redlining bias (high vs. moderate/low/least bias), adjusting for age, sex, treatment factors, personal socioeconomic status (SES; education and health insurance), and lifestyle factors. Joint effects of redlining bias and personal SES on CHC progression were also evaluated. Results: Survivors’ mean±SD age at baseline was 31.7±8.3 years; 17.5% lived in high and 19.5% in moderate redlining neighborhoods. The bivariate analysis found that living in a neighborhood classified as having high redlining bias (vs. moderate/low/least bias) increased the risk of progression of the global burden of CHCs (OR=1.32, 95% CI: 1.02-1.70). Multivariable analysis found significant associations of redlining bias with the risk of worsening/new-onset of individual CHCs such as cardiomyopathy (OR=1.63, 95% CI: 1.07-2.48), peripheral motor neuropathy (OR=1.56, 95% CI: 1.00-2.44), asthma (OR=1.85, 95% CI: 1.04-3.32), and restrictive pulmonary deficit (OR=1.79, 95% CI: 1.05-3.04). Considering joint effects, survivors enrolled in public insurance programs and living in a high redlining area had a higher risk of progression of the global burden of CHCs (OR=1.73, 95% CI: 1.05-2.87) and of worsening/new-onset in peripheral motor neuropathy (OR=3.18, 95% CI: 1.57-6.42) and restrictive pulmonary deficit (OR=5.29, 95% CI: 2.46-11.37) CHCs. Conclusions: The significant associations of redlining bias with the progression of CHCs among adult survivors of childhood cancer suggest an urgent need for interventions (typically social or healthcare policies) targeting neighborhoods with high discriminatory exposures to prevent CHC burden in this population. Citation Format: Jaesung Choi, Madeline R. Horan, Nickhill Bhakta, Deo Kumar Srivastava, Kirsten K. Ness, Gregory T. Armstrong, Melissa M. Hudson, I-Chan Huang. Redlining bias and progression of chronic health conditions in survivors of childhood cancer: A report from the St. Jude lifetime cohort study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr B139.

Beyond administrative burden: Activation and administrative harm

AbstractWithin recent public policy and administration scholarship, there has been a growing focus on the concept of “administrative burden” to describe the learning, compliance and psychological costs incurred by citizens when trying to access services and exercise social and political rights. Specifically, in the context of activation and welfare‐to‐work programmes, scholars have highlighted the effects of administrative burdens on claimants' autonomy, dignity and well‐being. We bring critical social policy scholarship on administrative harm into conversation with Adam and Balfour's concept of “administrative evil” to highlight the underlying dynamics of masking, moral inversion and dehumanisation that facilitate street‐level workers to adopt dispositions of enforcement of administrative burdens. To illustrate the applicability of Adam and Balfour's work to understanding how experiences of administrative burden can be intensified by the practices and dispositions of street‐level workers, we draw on examples of from an ethnographic study of the delivery of welfare‐to‐work in Australia.

Ensuring social standards as a principle of functioning of state authorities in accordance with the Association Agreement (theoretical and legal aspect)

The article discloses the content of social standards that state authorities are obliged to observe in the process of exercising their competence after the Association Agreement enters into force. Attention is focused on the fact that EU requirements regarding the activities of all branches of the state apparatus of Ukraine in terms of ensuring social standards are of primary importance in the context of the introduction of European approaches to good governance. It is substantiated that the timely and optimal implementation of EU social standards in Ukraine is possible only if a special legal mechanism is developed and applied. The heart of such a mechanism is the Association Agreement. Based on the analysis of the provisions of the specified document, the essence of the most significant social standards, which Ukraine undertakes to implement in practice, has been identified and disclosed. In particular, it is ensuring justice and improving the quality of life of citizens on the basis of equality and non-discrimination, increasing the level of social orientation of state policy towards migrants, introducing innovative approaches in the sphere of activity of authorities to combat the illegal circulation of narcotic drugs, precursors and psychotropic substances in order to overcome negative consequences for health and the negative social consequences of drug addiction, taking into account the social interests of the modern population while simultaneously caring for future generations, developing measures aimed at minimizing the risks to the population’s health from the nuclear industry, the social orientation of the organization of the fiscal and economic policy of the state. It has been proven that against the background of the deepening of the European integration processes of Ukraine, the modernization of the domestic social policy of the state is inevitable. First of all, this process requires the creation of an innovative legal basis for diversifying the mechanisms of its implementation, leveling the level of socio-economic development of Ukraine in order to avoid regional socio-economic asymmetry. In practice, this takes the form of changes in the legal regulation of a significant number of institutions of social security law of Ukraine, revision of organizational and legal approaches of state administration in the direction of implementing social standards.

Robo‐compliance in Australian employment services

AbstractSince the late 1990s, Australia's employment services have enforced mutual obligation compliance as part of a transition to a disciplinary regime of conditional welfare. In recent years, the digitisation of employment services has extended the disciplinary approach to self‐activation. Notably, self‐activation extends mutual obligation requirements so that online reporting is a condition of benefit eligibility, or a digital obligation, enforced by threats to financial security in the form of automated payment suspensions. Guided by recent developments in the conceptualisation of digital welfare to work programs, case study analysis is used to explore the ways the technologies of self‐activation have changed the location of power in mutual obligation compliance decisions. This shift represents a move from street‐level decision making to Robo‐compliance. The article discusses the significance of this shift in the digital administration of disciplinary social policy in employment services. It highlights the need for further empirical research to explore this shift and how it affects individuals whose social security payments depend on interactions with these technologies.

POLICY ANALYSIS OF HUMAN FACTORS AND SOCIAL INNOVATION IN EU EASI PROGRAMME REPORTS (2015-2022)

Purpose. The Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), launched by the EU (European Union), represents a financial instrument with the objective of addressing a range of policy analysis areas, as follows: (I) social protection and innovation; (II) social exclusion and social policies; (III) living and working conditions; and (IV) employment, job conditions, mobility, and social entrepreneurship settings under the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). Objectives. Therefore, the current research aims to structure and analyse in a comparative framework a wide range of EU policies and governance applied to the EaSI reports launched in the period 2015-2022, considering the policy context, key actors, policy content, legal instruments, implementation and governance structures and impact assessment of societal challenges, the role of human factors and the need for social innovation. Methodology. The analysis utilises both quantitative and qualitative methods, building on the comparative legal analysis and developing a triple evaluation: social, economic and political. In order to monitor and review the policy outcomes contained in the EaSI reports, the current study will use the Text-Based Diagramming of the programme Mermaid v10.9.0 Live Editor. Results and findings. The results of the analysis will evaluate and measure the extent to which the three EaSI reports launched in the period 2015-2022 have met the requirements of social innovation by assessing the policy and governance implementation mechanisms and tracking the relevance of two determinants: EU societal challenges and human factors. Conclusion. The framework of the EaSI reports provides the evaluation findings on multi-level policy and strategy approaches and summarises the findings and broader perspectives of the three reports on the effectiveness of social innovation governance. The research findings highlight the societal challenges in the EU, the interdisciplinary circumstances and the evidence-based interplay between the policy framework and the adaptability of multi-level governance.

The Efficient Applicability Limits of Social Entrepreneurship

The efficiency of social entrepreneurship depends on the ability of social enterprises to be sustainable. So, this paper implies deriving the efficient applicability limits of social entrepreneurship in terms of their sustainability. The more sustainable a social enterprise is, the wider its efficient applicability limits are. So, it's a novel approach towards studying the efficiency of social enterprises and the limits of their efficient applicability. The case study approach is used to estimate these limits, and three social enterprises are taken for this analysis, namely, APOPO, Benetech and Conserve. The insights of this paper suggest that the burden on social enterprises should be dosed, because their viability depends, in most part, on implementing the respective social policy. Under the excessive burden on social enterprises they could be destroyed, whereas under the insufficient burden some of their capacities could be idle, and that would suggest that they are inefficient. Eight factors of increasing the efficient applicability limits of social entrepreneurship (namely the state support of social enterprises, the aid provided for social enterprises by the private sponsors, the support for social enterprises provided by the international organizations, the support for social enterprises provided by the external sources of loan and emission financing, creation of special economic zones in different innovation centres, in which social enterprises are formed, using social enterprises as sub-contractors of the private business in the process of social outsourcing, the position of public opinion towards social entrepreneurship, the strategy of designing and marketing the products of social enterprises) were derived. The measures of the state support, enlarging the efficient applicability limits of social enterprises are provided. Also, the creation of special economic zones in the innovation centres, in which social enterprises are formed, is proposed, as well as the mechanism of subsidizing social enterprises by the state and creating some special conditions for the microfinance and social stock markets as the main external sources of financing social enterprises are suggested.

Forgiveness, Moral Disengagement, and Reactive and Proactive Aggression in Young Social Activists in Hong Kong

Social movements may bring positive social changes. However, escalated levels of violence and delinquency in some campaigns caused public concerns about infringing personal rights and destroying public property. In modern societies, we encourage mutual respect, peace, and appropriate conflict resolutions and avoid the use of aggression across situations. This cross-sectional study examined forgiveness, moral disengagement, and reactive and proactive aggression among different types of young social activists in Hong Kong. Findings would provide insights into intervention strategies for reducing aggressive behaviors in young people and helping them restore their quality of life. Our participants were 1046 local secondary school and tertiary students (583 males and 463 females) aged 12 to 25 years (M = 16.95, SD = 3.29). They completed a questionnaire about their participation in local campaigns, with psychological measures of forgiveness, moral disengagement, and aggression. The respondents were then divided into three categories: non-activists (NA), moderate activists (MA), and activists with delinquent/violent action (ADA). ANOVAs were used to examine the differences between these three types of social activists. Results indicated that ADA reported using more reactive and proactive aggression than NA, and MA reported using more reactive but not proactive aggression than NA. ADA had significantly higher levels of moral disengagement overall than NA and MA. Regarding forgiveness, both ADA and MA had significantly lower levels of absence of negative than NA. Implications for psychotherapy, education, and social policies will be discussed.

Book Review: Social Policy in Capitalist History: Perspectives on Poverty, Work and Society. By Ayşe Buğra

Book Review: <i>Social Policy in Capitalist History: Perspectives on Poverty, Work and Society</i>. By Ayşe Buğra

The comparative politics of solidarity: Political party discourse across three welfare state regimes

AbstractParty political conflict plays an essential role in shaping welfare policies, while they are simultaneously also shaped by these policies. As political parties grapple with the wicked challenges of our times, new forms of solidarity and solidarity conflicts arise across welfare regimes. Despite their significance, these dynamics have not received much recent attention. Our article aims to fill this gap. Through content analysis of party manifestos, we compare the solidarity frames of political parties within and between three distinct welfare regimes—Flanders (Belgium), Sweden, and the United States. Our results confirm our expectations drawn from political feedback literature: while party ideology influences parties' solidarity frame preferences and solidarity conflicts between parties, these preferences and conflicts are also influenced by a welfare regime's societal solidarity norms. Our article highlights the value of analyzing solidarity frames and political solidarity conflicts within welfare‐state regimes to better understand welfare politics and policies.Related ArticlesKönig, Pascal D. 2015. “Moral Societal Renewal or Getting the Country Back to Work: Welfare State Culture as a Resource and a Constraint for Policy Discourse.” Politics &amp; Policy 43(5): 647–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12130.Mioni, Michele, 2021. “The ‘Good Citizen’ as a ‘Respectable Worker:’ State, Unemployment, and Social Policy in the United Kingdom and Italy, 1930 to 1950.” Politics &amp; Policy 49(4): 913–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12425.Wagle, Udaya R. 2014. “The Heterogeneity Politics of the Welfare State: Changing Population Heterogeneity and Welfare State Policies in High‐Income OECD Countries, 1980‐2005.” Politics &amp; Policy 41(6): 947–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12053.

Detrimental to Our Digital Well-Being: Campus Sexual Misconduct and Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence Among University Students in Singapore.

Although increasingly prevalent in Singapore, campus sexual assault and harassment and technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) remain underresearched. Conducted by scholars across social work, gender studies, policy studies, communication, and computer science, this interdisciplinary study explores the impact of technologies such as social media and online platforms on the digital well-being of university students in Singapore who experience TFSV and campus sexual misconduct. We conducted online surveys with 314 students and interviews with 28 students, the majority of whom were women and identified as victim-survivors. Our analysis revealed participants did not perceive technologies as entirely detrimental and possessed limited awareness of digital well-being. These findings contribute to understanding young victim-survivors' digital well-being and relationship to technology in Singapore by highlighting the experiences of college students.

The impact of economic factors on the standard of living and social protection policy in Georgia

The impact of economic factors on the standard of living and social protection policy in Georgia

Introduction of a guaranteed basic income as a probable consequence of intellctual automation of labor

Objective: to form a holistic view of the unconditional basic income as a tool of social protection, taking into account the changes in the labor sphere and allowing to solve a number of growing problems associated with the consequences of the economy digitalization, as well as to assess the prospects of creating legal regulation on this issue. Methods: the study was conducted using both general and specific scientific methods, including analysis and synthesis, formal-legal method, systemic and comparative approaches, methods of legal forecasting and legal modeling. Results: unconditional basic income can become one of the elements of a new model of social security based on the unstable nature of labor relations, which begins to prevail over the model of sustainable employment traditional for industrial society. If established, this institution will be cross-sectoral within the labor law and social security law, providing social protection simultaneously to all members of society, most of whom in the near future will face an increased risk of being absorbed by technological unemployment. Unconditional basic income as an element of the social protection system will have to comply with the principle of the universal nature of protection based on social solidarity, on the one hand, and to take into account the need to balance the interests of the parties, on the other hand. As experimental models of basic income, which can be put into practice in the coming years, we can name the model of basic income as a measure of social support for persons involved in atypical forms of employment. This model will affect a number of existing provisions of labor legislation and will allow over time, in case of technological unemployment, to expand the circle of unconditional basic income recipients to all people. Scientific novelty: it consists in the fact that the unconditional basic income is analyzed from the viewpoint of its compliance with the fundamental principles of labor, employment, and social security. Practical significance: it consists in revealing the significance of basic income for the implementation of social policy and in forming recommendations for modeling experiments to introduce the unconditional basic income in the Russian Federation.

Features of Afghanistan Governance in the Period 2021–2024

Stability in Afghanistan depends on many factors, including external ones. The article analyzes the development of the situation in the country after the Taliban came to power. Considering the development of the security situation, in the humanitarian field, and the social policy of the current authorities, the author assesses the internal situation in the country and identifies the main factors that determine the level of risks and challenges emanating from the territory of Afghanistan. According to the estimates given in the article, after the Taliban came to power, with the relative stabilization of the situation within the country, instability arises in the direction of Pakistan and Iran. The author has established the dependence of social sustainability in the country on the volume of external assistance. The author predicts a worsening of the situation in Afghanistan in the event of a reduction in foreign aid.

The right to be rural: Farm community development and social services in Zimbabwe’s resettlement areas

ABSTRACT At a time when practitioners and scholars are crystallized around reconnoitering the outcomes of Zimbabwe’s fast track land reform, focus on farm community development and social services in the resettlements is paltry. These communities were envisaged to be enablers and guarantors of rural and national development. Applying a Transformative Social Policy approach and qualitative methodology, the article draws on nuanced insights from the resettlement areas with the principal aim of advancing pathways for improving farm community development. The study shows that fast track communities are characterized by multiple and enduring lacunae in social services particularly schools, clinics, potable water, shopping centers, accessible roads, and reliable transport. However, the farmers are responding in agentive and innovative ways to reduce the challenges. This study enriches community development theory, and informs policy-makers on pertinent aspects that should inform policy and practice in relation to social services and development in resettlement areas.

What works? Researching participants’ experiences of a social policy RCT through qualitative interviews

Increasingly, evidence-based policymaking, in the form of randomized control trials (RCTs) in particular, are advocated as a means for studying the effects of planned social policy measures. Additionally, a Finnish basic income experiment was conducted in 2017–2018 as an RCT as a means of exploring alternative policy solutions, which gained widespread national and international political, media and scholarly attention. Despite the popularity of RCTs, there is a lack of studies of participants’ experiences of participation in social policy RCTs. In this article, we depart from the notion of ‘lived experiences’ when investigating a bottom-up participant perspective of the Finnish social policy experiment with the purpose of contributing to the understanding and future planning of ethically and methodologically sustainable policy experiments. Drawing on a qualitative, in-depth interview study of 81 Finnish basic income experiment participants, we examined their lived experiences and related views on the experiment. The analysis shows that although the idea of experimenting to demonstrate ‘what works’ in social policy was supported by participants in principle, various questions arose both concerning the tactical and political purposes of the experiment and the nature of scientific ‘evidence’. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the impact of the media and political attention often surrounding more controversial policy experiments, like the Finnish one, can also challenge the RCT principles of ‘non-contamination’. Participants in highly politicized experiments also easily feel that they become objects of strong moral expectations and judgements, which in the Finnish basic income case clearly resulted in feelings of frustration and personal failure.

Addressing Social Issues and Ensuring Social Security in Vietnam During the Renovation Period

Vietnam's national renovation has gone through four decades. Throughout the comprehensive renovation process, the understanding of the fundamental aspects of social life has become increasingly clear, reflecting the essence of the socialist system that Vietnam has chosen. Social issues encompass all aspects of human life. The level of economic development provides the material conditions to implement social policies, but social goals are the ultimate purpose of economic activities. Even within the framework of economic activities, social policies directly impact labor productivity, product quality, etc., hence the need for basic, long-term social policies that align with the requirements and capabilities during the initial phase of the transitional period. This article focuses on clarifying the views and policies of the Party and the Vietnamese government on addressing social issues and ensuring social security; highlighting both the achievements and limitations in the process of addressing social issues and ensuring social security in Vietnam during the renovation period.

Financial Sustainability of Social Insurance: The Case of Korean Workers’ Compensation Insurance and Possibility of Triple Moral Hazard

Abstract This study examines the economic stability of Korean Workers’ Compensation Insurance (WCI), highlighting the system’s vulnerability to triple moral hazard. Korean WCI features more generous worker compensation, lower employer premiums, and more active government involvement in accident prevention in addition to a higher industrial accident rate, compared to the system in Germany and Japan. The negotiation process of the WCI among workers, employers, and insurance managers often prioritizes short-term benefits, undermining long-term financial health. Workers seek greater compensation, employers push for lower premiums, and insurance managers may prioritize collective interests, exacerbating the system’s economic instability. Over recent years, applications for occupational disease recognition have surged, and premium rates have decreased, indicating increasing strain. To mitigate these issues, the study proposes enhancing transparency and rationality, involving non-political experts in decision-making, and clearly defining the government’s role in managing WCI. These measures aim to balance stakeholder interests and ensure the WCI system’s sustainability for future generations.