8th ESPAnet Conference 2010Social Policy and the Global Crisis:
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18. Financing the Welfare State: Challenges, Reforms and Outcomes
The way welfare states and/or welfare programmes are financed has so far remained largely understudied, despite it being one of the most crucial elements for understanding cross-national differences in the institutional design of welfare programmes and their social, economic and political outcomes.
Financing mechanisms and the principles on which they rest provide insight into the nature of different welfare states, reflecting different conceptions of solidarity and different redistributive ambitions. The type and form of financing mechanisms can be expected to have an impact on redistributive outcomes, on relations between different socio-economic groups, on economic behaviour, and on norms and expectations. Different types of financing mechanisms may enjoy different levels of legitimacy, thus bearing on welfare states’ capacity to reform.
New challenges call into question present financing arrangements and raise questions regarding the future financial sustainability of welfare states. Economic globalisation is reducing the possibility for nation-states to pursue their own tax policies and can lead to tax competition and thus to a downward pressure on available resources, while increased migration sets pressure on welfare states to harmonise welfare policies and their financing. Concomitantly, new needs are appearing linked to population ageing and a shrinking workforce and tax-base, which also call for a restructuring of taxes and benefits and new forms of intergenerational redistribution in order to ensure the sustainability of the welfare state.
Such challenges are accentuated by the current global financial crisis, but different welfare states may be more or less vulnerable to the crisis depending on their institutional design and the financing mechanisms they rest on.
This stream invites multidisciplinary contributions addressing the issue of the financing of the welfare state with respect to institutional design; political underpinnings and legitimacy; political conflicts; reform initiatives, constraints, processes and outcomes; vulnerability in face of the global financial crisis; and future sustainability. Comparative analyses are particularly encouraged.
Convenors:
| Nathalie Morel | Joakim Palme | |
| Institute for Futures Studies Box 591, 101 31 Stockholm, Sweden E-mail: nathalie.a.morel@gmail.com Tel: 0046 8 402 12 22 |
Institute for Futures Studies Box 591, 101 31 Stockholm, Sweden E-mail: Joakim.Palme@framtidsstudier.se Tel: 0046 8 402 12 26 |
Saturday, 9:00-11:00 Room 07, Session 18.
Presentations
1. Ola Sjöberg: Nothing is certain except death and taxes: taxing inherited wealth in comparative perspective [abstract] [paper]
2. Henning Finseraas & Carsten Jensen: Causes of partisan change in mature welfare states [abstract] [paper]
3. Markus Tepe, Peter Vanhuysse: The Timing of Pro-Elderly Policy Cutbacks: An Event History Analysis of Aging Welfare States [abstract] [paper]
Contributed papers:
1. Jorge Garcés, Francisco Rodenas: The future sustainability of the welfare states of southern Europe: new models [abstract] [paper]
Important dates
17 November 2009 = Call for stream convenors
18 December 2009 = Deadline for stream convenors
25 January 2010 = Call for abstracts
29 March 2010 = Deadline for abstract submission
3 May 2010 = Registration starts
6 June 2010 = Reduced fee application deadline
21 June 2010 24:00 (CET) = Early bird registration deadline
13 August 2010 24:00 (CET) - Deadline for submission of papers
16 August 2010 - Deadline for Registrations and payments
Registration fee is 160 Euros for early birds, 210 Euros for late birds. Central and Eastern European PhD students and professionals can apply for a reduced fee of 60 Euros at info@espanet2010.net until 6th June.
Registration opens on the 3rd May, early bird registration closes on the 21th June at 24:00 (CET).
Theme of the Conference
The theme of ESPAnet’s 2010 Annual Conference is the social consequences of the global financial crisis and its differential impact across Europe. The main questions for consideration include:
How is the crisis affecting already existing inequalities? How are different social classes and groups, especially those in poverty, affected by the crisis? What are the adaptable capacities of the different “worlds of welfare”? Does the intensifying social vulnerability lead to the re-structuring of the programs to provide more security? How far have new programs been developed, and how far have new questions of social policy and welfare been opened up by the crisis?
We would like to broaden the horizon of social policy analysis and see global environmental concerns taken into account: How far are responses to the crisis re-thinking the role of the national and international/global state and the role of the European Union in creating economically, socially and environmentally sustainable societies?