Is globalisation undermining the welfare state?

Authors: Navarro V.; Schmitt J.; Astudillo J.

Source: Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 28, Number 1, January 2004 , pp. 133-152(20)

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Abstract:

This paper analyses the evolution of the welfare states in the majority of OECD countries during the pre-globalisation (1946–80) and globalisation (1980–2000) periods. Our purpose is to find out whether globalisation has produced a convergence towards a smaller welfare state, funded increasingly by non-mobile factors such as labour, property and consumption rather than by mobile factors such as capital. The data presented here challenge the claims about such a convergence, showing that social public expenditures and public employment have continued to expand during the globalisation period in most OECD countries. We also show that the welfare states remain rooted in the political traditions that have governed them.

Keywords: Economic globalisation; Welfare states; Labour markets; Political economy

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cje/beg037

Publication date: 2004-01-01

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The Cambridge Journal of Economics, founded in 1977 in the traditions of Marx, Keynes, Kalecki, Joan Robinson and Kaldor, provides a forum for theoretical, applied, policy and methodological research into social and economic issues.