Open Access
Social investment as a conceptual framework for analysing well-being returns and reforms in 21st century welfare states
Loading...
License
Attribution 4.0 International
Cadmus Permanent Link
Full-text via DOI
ISBN
ISSN
1475-1461; 1475-147X
Issue Date
Type of Publication
Keyword(s)
LC Subject Heading
Other Topic(s)
EUI Research Cluster(s)
Initial version
Published version
Succeeding version
Preceding version
Published version part
Earlier different version
Initial format
Citation
Socio-economic review, 2023, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 479-500
Cite
HEMERIJCK, Anton, RONCHI, Stefano, PLAVGO, Ilze, Social investment as a conceptual framework for analysing well-being returns and reforms in 21st century welfare states, Socio-economic review, 2023, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 479-500 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/75124
Abstract
Welfare provision is often conceived through the lens of decommodification and analysed in (re)distributive terms. This article argues that a distributive approach does not sufficiently capture the complexity of 21st century welfare state dynamics. It proposes re-conceptualizing provision as a mix of three policy functions: raising and maintaining human capital stock; easing the flow of gendered life-course and labour-market transitions; guaranteeing social safety-net buffers. This analytical perspective allows theorizing life-course multiplier effects and policy (non-)complementarities, both at the level of individual objective and subjective well-being and in terms of aggregate employment, poverty and fiscal sustainability. This perspective also enables us to extend the temporal horizon of welfare politics beyond short-term electoral logics for explaining welfare reform. The article underscores how methodological pluralism remains key for understanding contemporary welfare states, and for grasping welfare outcomes and institutional change in a research endeavour that involves both generalization and contextualization.
Table of Contents
Additional Information
External Links
Publisher
Version
Research Projects
Sponsorship and Funder Information
This work has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 882276).