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Handbook on the Political Economy of Social Policy
Research in social policy has been greatly influenced by the emergence of modern political economy in the late 1970s. The Handbook on the Political Economy of Social Policy offers a systematic, yet comprehensive, framework for understanding how concepts, theoretical standpoints and methodological approaches stemming from political economy have been applied to the study of social policies, and models of welfare provision. The authors also signpost current developments and discuss their likely impact on future research.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
Research in social policy has been greatly influenced by the emergence of modern political economy in the late 1970s. The Handbook on the Political Economy of Social Policy offers a systematic, yet comprehensive, framework for understanding how concepts, theoretical standpoints and methodological approaches stemming from political economy have been applied to the study of social policies, and models of welfare provision. The authors also signpost current developments and discuss their likely impact on future research.
With contributions from leading scholars in social policy, political science and political economy, The Handbook explores the key theoretical standpoints for understanding how social policies are introduced and/or reformed. These include historical institutionalism, the role of ideas, the influence of political parties and of political attitudes and preferences. The contributors also discuss key methodological approaches for understanding how social policies are adopted and how they change – from the case-study approach to more comparative approaches. Analysis of the applications of political economy approaches within social policy covers housing, welfare, labour relations and pensions as well as examining regional cases from across the globe.
Offering a comprehensive overview of the current state of scholarship on the political economy of social policy, this Handbook will be crucial reading for scholars and students of social policy, welfare state analysis, area studies, political science, political economy and sociology.
With contributions from leading scholars in social policy, political science and political economy, The Handbook explores the key theoretical standpoints for understanding how social policies are introduced and/or reformed. These include historical institutionalism, the role of ideas, the influence of political parties and of political attitudes and preferences. The contributors also discuss key methodological approaches for understanding how social policies are adopted and how they change – from the case-study approach to more comparative approaches. Analysis of the applications of political economy approaches within social policy covers housing, welfare, labour relations and pensions as well as examining regional cases from across the globe.
Offering a comprehensive overview of the current state of scholarship on the political economy of social policy, this Handbook will be crucial reading for scholars and students of social policy, welfare state analysis, area studies, political science, political economy and sociology.
Critical Acclaim
‘The Handbook should be a valuable resource for researchers, teachers and students, providing them with a useful overview of the state of the art, bringing together leading research and researchers. For academics teaching senior classes in social policy, political economy or comparative analysis, the Handbook offers useful tools for analysis.’
– Ben Spies-Butcher, Journal of Australian Political Economy
‘It is easy to say that the study of social policy can benefit from utilizing the perspectives of political economy. It is quite another thing to demonstrate the wisdom of doing so. This volume does both – by thoughtfully bringing together a collection of insightful essays that explore the theory behind the process followed by essays that provide concrete applications that illustrate real-world situations.’
– Douglas Besharov, University of Maryland, US
‘This valuable volume provides a penetrating introduction to the comparative political economy of social policy, along with cutting-edge methodological, conceptual, and research contributions. With top scholars tackling a dazzling array of topics, this one-stop resource is certain to be illuminating and inspiring for students, instructors, and researchers alike.’
– Jacob S. Hacker, Yale University, US
''In the Handbook on the Political Economy of Social Policy Bent Greve, Amílcar Moreira and Minna van Gerven have compiled an excellent collection of works that examine the link between political economy and social policy providing new insights into contemporary policy developments and welfare states reforms.’
– Neil Gilbert, University of California, Berkeley, US
– Ben Spies-Butcher, Journal of Australian Political Economy
‘It is easy to say that the study of social policy can benefit from utilizing the perspectives of political economy. It is quite another thing to demonstrate the wisdom of doing so. This volume does both – by thoughtfully bringing together a collection of insightful essays that explore the theory behind the process followed by essays that provide concrete applications that illustrate real-world situations.’
– Douglas Besharov, University of Maryland, US
‘This valuable volume provides a penetrating introduction to the comparative political economy of social policy, along with cutting-edge methodological, conceptual, and research contributions. With top scholars tackling a dazzling array of topics, this one-stop resource is certain to be illuminating and inspiring for students, instructors, and researchers alike.’
– Jacob S. Hacker, Yale University, US
''In the Handbook on the Political Economy of Social Policy Bent Greve, Amílcar Moreira and Minna van Gerven have compiled an excellent collection of works that examine the link between political economy and social policy providing new insights into contemporary policy developments and welfare states reforms.’
– Neil Gilbert, University of California, Berkeley, US
Contributors
Contributors include: Paolo Agnolin, Camila Arza, Daniel Béland, Benedikt Bender, Giuliano Bonoli, Marius R. Busemeyer, Michael Byrne, Milena Büchs, Fen-ling Chen, Bernhard Ebbinghaus, François Facchini, Emanuele Ferragina, Federico Danilo Filetti, Juliana Martínez Franzoni, Ian Greener, Bent Greve, Anton Hemerijck, Ijin Hong, Matteo Jessoula, Priyaranjan Jha, Yuri Kazepov, Stephan Köppe, Stefan Kühner, Ronen Mandelkern, Elena Marseglia, Gibrán Cruz-Martínez, Ian McManus, Elisabetta Mocca, Hyungyung Moon, Amílcar Moreira, Rahul Mukherjee, Marcello Natili, Zachary Parolin, Emmanuele Pavolini, Federico Podestà, Martin Powell, Ricardo Rodrigues, Antonios Roumpakis, Viktoria Szenkurök, Shih-Jiunn Shi, Cassandra Simmons, Minna van Gerven, Tobias Wiß, Nan Yang
Contents
Contents:
List of contributors vii
1 Introduction: what is political economy and social policy? 1
Bent Greve, Minna Van Gerven and Amílcar Moreira
PART I THEORIES AND MECHANISMS
2 Historical institutionalism and social policy 15
Ian Greener and Martin Powell
3 The micro-foundations of social policy: attitudes and preferences 26
Marius R. Busemeyer
4 Ideas as explanations in social policy analysis 40
Daniel Béland and Ronen Mandelkern
5 The resurgence of partisanship in social policymaking 52
Ian P. McManus
6 Welfare state, rent seeking and interest groups 68
François Facchini
PART II METHODS
7 Within-case and process tracing analysis: reviewing challenges and
opportunities for social policy research 81
Hyungyung Moon and Antonios Roumpakis
8 The configurational approach in comparative social policy analysis:
advances in capturing the impact of globalisation on social
policymaking in moderate-n research designs 92
Stefan Kühner, Gibrán Cruz-Martínez and Nan Yang
9 Studying the welfare state by analysing time-series cross-section data 104
Federico Podestà
10 Measuring welfare regimes across space and time: a preliminary review
of methods and substance 117
Emanuele Ferragina and Federico Danilo Filetti
PART III APPLICATIONS
11 The political economy of poverty and inequality 130
Paolo Agnolin, Elena Marsegli and Zachary Parolin
12 The political economy of fiscal welfare 142
Emmanuele Pavolini, Matteo Jessoula and Marcello Natili
13 Global taxation and national welfare states 154
Priyaranjan Jha and Rahul Mukherjee
14 How organized interests shape labour relations and social policies 166
Benedikt Bender and Bernhard Ebbinghaus
15 The political economy of active labour market policy 179
Giuliano Bonoli
16 The political economy of pension policy 191
Bernhard Ebbinghaus and Tobias Wiß
17 Care regimes in Europe: a dynamic view of typologies and evolving
long-term care policies over time 206
Cassandra Simmons, Viktoria Szenkurök and Ricardo Rodrigues
18 Political economy of housing policy 219
Stephan Köppe and Michael Byrne
19 Local policy development 233
Elisabetta Mocca and Yuri Kazepov
20 Quo vadis European welfare states: united in diversity or steering
towards convergence? 244
Minna van Gerven and Bent Greve
21 Latin American social policy from the 2000s to the COVID-19
pandemic: a tale of successes and shortcomings 254
Camila Arza and Juliana Martínez Franzoni
22 Political economy of the East Asian welfare states: partisan politics in
social investment policies in South Korea and Taiwan 266
Ijin Hong, Fen-ling Chen and Shih-Jiunn Shi
23 Europe’s comparative political economy of social investment reform in
times of recession and pandemic 283
Anton Hemerijck
24 How to balance sustainability and social policy? 297
Milena Büchs
25 Conclusion: the political economy of social policy – a brief state of the art 309
Amílcar Moreira, Minna Van Gerven and Bent Greve
List of contributors vii
1 Introduction: what is political economy and social policy? 1
Bent Greve, Minna Van Gerven and Amílcar Moreira
PART I THEORIES AND MECHANISMS
2 Historical institutionalism and social policy 15
Ian Greener and Martin Powell
3 The micro-foundations of social policy: attitudes and preferences 26
Marius R. Busemeyer
4 Ideas as explanations in social policy analysis 40
Daniel Béland and Ronen Mandelkern
5 The resurgence of partisanship in social policymaking 52
Ian P. McManus
6 Welfare state, rent seeking and interest groups 68
François Facchini
PART II METHODS
7 Within-case and process tracing analysis: reviewing challenges and
opportunities for social policy research 81
Hyungyung Moon and Antonios Roumpakis
8 The configurational approach in comparative social policy analysis:
advances in capturing the impact of globalisation on social
policymaking in moderate-n research designs 92
Stefan Kühner, Gibrán Cruz-Martínez and Nan Yang
9 Studying the welfare state by analysing time-series cross-section data 104
Federico Podestà
10 Measuring welfare regimes across space and time: a preliminary review
of methods and substance 117
Emanuele Ferragina and Federico Danilo Filetti
PART III APPLICATIONS
11 The political economy of poverty and inequality 130
Paolo Agnolin, Elena Marsegli and Zachary Parolin
12 The political economy of fiscal welfare 142
Emmanuele Pavolini, Matteo Jessoula and Marcello Natili
13 Global taxation and national welfare states 154
Priyaranjan Jha and Rahul Mukherjee
14 How organized interests shape labour relations and social policies 166
Benedikt Bender and Bernhard Ebbinghaus
15 The political economy of active labour market policy 179
Giuliano Bonoli
16 The political economy of pension policy 191
Bernhard Ebbinghaus and Tobias Wiß
17 Care regimes in Europe: a dynamic view of typologies and evolving
long-term care policies over time 206
Cassandra Simmons, Viktoria Szenkurök and Ricardo Rodrigues
18 Political economy of housing policy 219
Stephan Köppe and Michael Byrne
19 Local policy development 233
Elisabetta Mocca and Yuri Kazepov
20 Quo vadis European welfare states: united in diversity or steering
towards convergence? 244
Minna van Gerven and Bent Greve
21 Latin American social policy from the 2000s to the COVID-19
pandemic: a tale of successes and shortcomings 254
Camila Arza and Juliana Martínez Franzoni
22 Political economy of the East Asian welfare states: partisan politics in
social investment policies in South Korea and Taiwan 266
Ijin Hong, Fen-ling Chen and Shih-Jiunn Shi
23 Europe’s comparative political economy of social investment reform in
times of recession and pandemic 283
Anton Hemerijck
24 How to balance sustainability and social policy? 297
Milena Büchs
25 Conclusion: the political economy of social policy – a brief state of the art 309
Amílcar Moreira, Minna Van Gerven and Bent Greve
