Social Policies in an Age of Austerity: A Comparative Analysis of the US and Korea (KDI/EWC series on Economic Policy) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1784717568 ISBN 13: 9781784717568

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015

Synopsis

'South Korea is a recently rich country with dramatic demography - expensive children, very low fertility, long life and rapid population aging. Its policies and institutions must adjust rapidly to these new economic and demographic realities, and this excellent collection of studies of the welfare state in Korea, North America, and Europe will help guide Korean policy makers in this task.'
- Ronald Lee, University of California, Berkeley, US

'This book explores a highly topical issue which is of immense importance throughout the world, in both advanced and developing countries. While the demand for social policies has grown strongly in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the fiscal space required for such policies has shrunk. On the basis of rigorous analysis and evidence, the authors of this path-breaking work provide concrete and specific directions for fiscally sustainable yet effective social policies that empower and protect the common citizen.'
- Donghyun Park, Asian Development Bank, Philippines

In response to the global financial crisis, many OECD countries reduced public spending on social policies, with economists now often referring to 'permanent austerity'. Long before the crisis, however, slow economic growth and population aging had already increased the need for rebalancing social expenditure and yet social protection was still far from adequate in many countries. Social Policies in an Age of Austerity is the first major publication on this important topic.

The authors of the ten chapters in this book review recent developments in social policies in OECD countries, focusing on the United States and the Republic of Korea, and examining the use of program evaluation in social policies and drawing lessons for policymakers. The contributions cover social and fiscal policy and issues in labor market policy, in addition to the effectiveness of social insurance, education and antipoverty policy.

The policies outlined and lessons provided in the book will continue to be valuable to governments, and scholars of advanced and developing countries for decades to come, and to research institutes involved in government and social policy.

Contributors: D. Autor, B.-G. Chun, W. Chung, H. Kim, Y. Koh, A.B. Krueger, S.-H. Lee, H.-H. Li, H. Moon, D.W. Schanzenbach, J.K. Scholz, H. Yoo, J.P. Ziliak

About this title

About the Author:

Edited by John Karl Scholz, Dean, College of Letters and Science and Nellie June Gray Professor of Economic Policy, University of Wisconsin at Madison, US, Hyungpyo Moon, Minister of Health and Welfare of the Republic of Korea and Senior Fellow, Korea Development Institute, Korea and Sang-Hyop Lee, Senior Fellow, East-West Center, Professor, Department of Economics and Director, Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, US

About this edition

• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1784717568
• ISBN 13: 9781784717568
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320
• Editor: Scholz John Karl, Moon Hyungypo, Lee Sang-Hyup