Social Welfare Development in East Asia

223 Pages·2000·1.715 MB·English

by  Kwong-leung Tang (auth.)

Social Welfare Development in East Asia
Also by Kwong-leung Tang
COLONIAL STATE AND SOCIAL POLICY
MODELS OF WORKPLACE TRAINING (with Jacqueline Cheung)
Social Welfare Development
in East Asia
Kwong-leung Tang
Associate Professor
College of Arts, Social and Health Sciences
University of Northern British Columbia
Canada
© Kwong-leung Tang 2000
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-333-75460-3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tang,Kwong-Leung
Social welfare development in East Asia / Kwong-Leung Tang.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-349-41340-9
1.East Asia—Social policy.2.Public welfare—East Asia.I.Title.
HN720.5.A8 T36 2000
361.6'1'095—dc21
00–027538
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09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
Contents
List of Tables vi
Preface vii
1 The Study of State Welfare in East Asia 1
2 East Asia and Theories of Comparative Social Policy 19
3 The Capital Investment State of Singapore 38
4 Authoritarianism and the Social Insurance State:
The Case of Taiwan 64
5 The Authoritarian Developmental State and
Social Welfare in Korea 89
6 Toward a Capital Investment State? The Social Welfare
Development of Hong Kong 113
7 Social Welfare Provisions in East Asia and Quality of Life 135
8 The Future of State Welfare in East Asia 156
Notes 175
References 183
Index 209
v
List of Tables
1.1 Economic indicators for East Asian little tigers 2
1.2 Social indicators for East Asian little tigers 2
1.3 Human Development Index for Asian tigers, 1975–1997 3
3.1 Major extensions of the CPF in Singapore, 1968–1998 45
3.2 Educational spending in the four little tigers,
1980 and 1996 51
3.3 Health spending in the four little tigers, 1990–1997 51
3.4 Population aged 65 and above (as percentage
of total population) in the Asian little tigers, 1997 and 2015 62
4.1 Low-income households and population in Taiwan,
1990–1997 74
4.2 Net expenditure on social welfare in Taiwan, 1990–1997 76
5.1 State expenditure on social welfare in Korea, 1979–1995 96
6.1 Social services spending as proportion of GDP
in Hong Kong, 1975–1996 120
6.2 Number of people on public assistance in
Hong Kong, 1985–1999 125
7.1 Social welfare spending of Asian little tigers, 1995 137
7.2 Social spending in the Asian little tigers 138
7.3 Social welfare provision in the four Asian tigers 141
7.4 Congruence of HDI and GNP ranking, 1997 143
7.5 Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) for Asian
little tigers and selected countries, 1997 144
7.6 Absolute poverty (percentage of households in poverty)
in Asian little tigers, 1966–1996 145
7.7 Gini coefficient for household income in East Asian
little tigers, 1966–1996 149
7.8 Asian tigers’ income ratio per capita ($US), 1980–1994 150
vi
Preface
This book was conceived with two purposes in mind. One was to con-
tribute to the growing literature on social welfare development of East
Asian little tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Singapore)
by locating their welfare development in the context of developmental
states and developmental ideologies. The other was to fill in the gap left
by comparative social policy analysis which has long neglected the rich
economies in East Asia. While welfare state studies have attained a
sophisticated level of development in terms of theory generation and
policy analysis, the field has been weakened by a blatant neglect of
economically rich East Asian little tigers. Although the literature on
EastAsian welfare development is growing rapidly, yet it is still over-
represented by single-country studies whose conclusions and findings
may not be generalizable to the neighbouring countries. The availabil-
ity of research papers and book chapters partially meet the needs of
readers interested in Asian welfare development. Nevertheless, the
number of texts which attempt to compare and contrast welfare devel-
opment in East Asia is meagre. Systematic, cross-national study of East
Asian welfare development has long been overdue.
The book raises a number of central issues for those interested in
comparative social policy. What is the present level of social welfare
development in these four countries? What kinds of welfare institution
have these countries established? What is the nature of these institu-
tions? Given their economic might, why did these East Asian countries
refuse to adopt western-style welfare states? What are some of the major
determinants which would affect the future course of welfare develop-
ment? Will their approach to social welfare be different after the onset
of Asian economic crisis?
Unlike those welfare state studies which often pose the question
‘what determines welfare state development?’, the point of departure of
this book is: why has social welfare development been underdeveloped
in East Asia? Acknowledging a host of factors which explain their
underdevelopment, this study puts emphasis on the role of the devel-
opmental states. In line with the current interest in state-centred ana-
lysis, the important role of the state in shaping the economic growth as
well as social welfare will be explored and analysed. Such emphasis on
state actions and policies does not preclude analysis of societal forces of
vii
viii Preface
labour movement and business stances toward welfare. The concept of
developmental states will also be used to explain the gradual but steady
emergence of social welfare in these countries. We end our discussion
on a sombre note. After five decades of development, the develop-
mental states in East Asia are still averse to significant welfare institu-
tions such as family allowance, well-articulated active labour market
policies, and unemployment insurance. The concepts of social entitle-
ment as right and redistributive justice are not embraced by political
leaders in these states.
We hope the book will prove useful to students studying the role of
the state, social welfare development in Asia, and government policy. It
will also be useful to academics interested in East Asian welfare develop-
ment. We hope anyone who has a strong interest in the interface of
developmental states and social welfare will find it of value.
I must thank the Madam K. Li Memorial Fund for its funding, which
allowed me to make several research trips to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singa-
pore, and Hawaii. Thanks are also due to Florence Cheung and Jacqueline
Cheung, who have typed, read, and commented on various chapters.
However, given the scope of the book, errors and omissions no doubt
remain. My gratitude and respect goes to Sarah Barrett for her meticulous
work. Finally, special thanks to Tim Farmiloe and Karen Brazier of Macmillan
Press, who offered help and suggestions. The standard disclaimer applies:
any remaining errors are the sole responsibility of the author.
1
The Study of State Welfare
in East Asia
Introduction
Before the onset of the Asian economic crisis, the rapid economic
growth of East and Southeast Asia has astonished the world. In particular,
East Asia is considered as the most dynamic economic region in the
world. Much of the growth was attributable to the achievements of Japan
and the four tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan).
These ‘little tigers’ have experienced very fast economic rate in the
last three decades. Parallel to such phenomenal growth has been a big
leap in per capita gross domestic product over a 30-year period. Hong
Kong’s per capita GDP increased from US $2,422 in 1965 to US $12,060
in 1994, while that for Singapore went up from US $1,685 to US $13,043.
The other two tigers experienced very similar success in the same
period: Taiwan (US $267 to US $11,629) and South Korea (US $623 to
US $5,197). The world’s highest per capita growth rate is found in
Singapore (Ermisch & Huff, 1999). Per capita income in Hong Kong and
Singapore has exceeded those of the United Kingdom, Australia, and
Canada. In the same period, all the tigers attained an impressive record
of full employment. Unemployment for the tigers was less than 3 per cent
for most of the times. This was substantially below the structural unem-
ployment rate in the other major industrialized countries, where it ranged
from 5.8 to 10.6 per cent (OECD, 1996). According to the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development, Asian tigers have formally
achieved ‘developed country’ status (Enricht et al., 1997). When many
of the developing countries fail to replicate the economic success of the
advanced industrial countries, the economic miracle in the East Asian
tigers carries an added significance. As a result, there has been massive
literature published at their economic achievements, with researchers
examining various aspects of their growth (Krueger, 1995).
1
K. Tang, Social Welfare Development in East Asia
© Kwong-leung Tang 2000