Is the Chinese ‘entrepreneurial welfare state’ an industrial policy in disguise?

Abstract

What has driven China, a developing country that has only recently saved itself from nationwide poverty, to increase its investment in social welfare so rapidly and extensively in the past decade? Drawing on extensive field research in a prefecture-level district in southwest China between 2014 and 2017, the authors argue in this article that local governments in China provide welfare housing programmes as a veil for developmentalist industrial policies aimed at industrial upgrading and the improvement of dynamic efficiency. The article demonstrates the unique incentive structure behind the local Chinese governments’ role as the front-line investor in social welfare benefits, and how the local state has cunningly used the façade of welfare provision to (1) divert the earmarked budget to implement development-oriented industrial policy; and (2) fake a discursive congruence between the heavily interventionist local practice and the overall neoliberal central-level policy discourse that features deregulation, small government and a laissez-faire developmental pathway. Exploring this set of strategic dynamics underlining the manoeuvres of the Chinese welfare operation helps us understand the variability of welfare state forms and trajectories of developmental strategy in the Global South.     

Comparing Welfare Service Delivery Among Public,Nonprofit and For-Profit Work Agencies

Since passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996, there has been a proliferation of contracting for welfare services, specifically around Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and related benefits and services such as child care. The services most commonly contracted include those around the work or employment function, such as training, education, job placement, and support services to promote job entry or retention.

The purpose of this article is to examine differences in the quality of service provision among public, nonprofit, and for-profit auspices in the delivery of work-based welfare reform services. The findings show that there are some differences in welfare programs across the three sectors. The significance of this issue relates to the critical question of whether social needs can be best met through competitive outsourcing.     

Introduction: the Political Consequences of Non-state Social Welfare in the Global South

Throughout the Global South, diverse non-state actors have historically played critical roles in enabling populations to meet their basic needs, whether by providing or mediating access to social benefits and programs. To date, little research explores non-state social welfare, particularly in the Global South, and existing studies tend to focus on technical and administrative concerns while neglecting the potential political ramifications. This introductory essay aims to conceptualize and theorize the politics of non-state social welfare. We highlight three dimensions of the political consequences of non-state social welfare, including the implications for state capacity, equity of access to social welfare, and experiences of citizenship. Based on this framework as well as the findings of the empirical contributions to the special issue, the essay concludes that non-state provision may pose more political challenges than proponents recognize, but its effects are ultimately contingent on the types of relationships between state and non-state providers.     

The monetisation of l'goty: Changing patterns of welfare politics and provision in Russia

This article explores the contentious ‘monetisation’ of in-kind benefits (l'goty) that converted them into cash allowances and redistributed responsibility for welfare provision between federal and local governments. We provide an empirical account of these reforms and discuss their implications for the conceptualisation, financing and regional dimensions of welfare provision in Russia. We find that budgetary pressures were not the primary motivation for the recent changes, nor were old forms of social provision fully abolished. Monetisation launched a process that shifts responsibility for well-being onto individuals and institutionalises the spatial differentiation of welfare provision.     

Book reviews

Clay G. Westcott (ed.), Key Governance Issues in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam (Manila: Asian Development Bank, 2001), 71 pages.

Michael Jacobsen and Ole Bruun (eds.), Human Rights and Asian Values: Contesting National Identities and Cultural Representations in Asia (Surrey, Great Britain: Curzon Press, 2000), 330 pages.

Robert H. Taylor (ed.), Burma: Political Economy Under Military Rules (London: Hurst & Company, 2001).

Satu Kahkonen and Anthony Lanyi (eds.), Institutions, Incentives and Economic Reforms in India (New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2000).

Kyung‐Ae Park and Dalchoong Kim (eds.), Korean Security Dynamics and Transition (New York: Palgrave, 2001), 209 pages.     

Network news coverage of terrorism: The early years

Abstract

The electronic media influence public opinion by defining which national and international issues become significant, and shape public debates by the television images conveyed to the American audience. Based upon the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, this study examines the image projected in reporting of terrorist activities by the three major national networks, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The reality presented by the media is explored by comparing variables such as story emphasis and depiction, frequency, length of coverage, and location in the newscasts.     

Estimating Sectoral and Geographical Industrial Pollution Inventories in India: Implications for Using Effluent Charge Versus Regulation

Developing countries are increasingly concerned about the growing pollution levels in cities. Because of the lack of reliable information on the nature and magnitude of emissions/discharges from various industrial sources it is difficult for regulators to formulate cost-effective strategies for industrial pollution control. This article uses the Industrial Pollution Projection System database to estimate the industrial pollution load and the associated abatement cost, which can be used to design cost-effective strategies for pollution control. The article also illustrates the cost-effectiveness of market based instruments such as effluent charge vis-à-vis regulation.     

The State of Female Autonomy in India: A Stochastic Dominance Approach

The promotion of female autonomy is both intrinsically and instrumentally desirable. We document differences in the distribution of female autonomy in India (using the National Family Health Survey 2005–2006) addressing two methodological challenges: the multidimensional nature of the concept and its frequent measurement with ordinal variables (which are not amenable to direct comparisons of social averages). We tackle these challenges with three methods based on stochastic dominance techniques suited for ordinal and dichotomous variables. Whenever these dominance conditions hold for a pairwise comparison, we can conclude that the multidimensional autonomy distribution in one state is more desirable than in another one across a broad range of criteria for the individual and social welfare evaluation of autonomy. Consistently across the three methods, we find that most of the states with better autonomy distributions (in pairwise comparisons) come from the north east and the south, whereas most of the states with worse autonomy distributions come from the north.     

Book Notes

Book Reveiwed in this article Matrix Management: A Cross-Functional Approach to Organization Kenneth Knight (ed). Public Administration and Public Policy H. George Frederickson and Charles R. Wise. Councils, Committees and Boards J. G. Anderson (ed). Sources of European Economic Information Compiled by Cambridge Information and Research Services Ltd. Public Expenditure: Allocation between Competing Ends M. V. Posner (ed). Can Personnel Management meet the Challenge? John Stewart. Practical Performance Appraisal Valerie and Andrew Stewart. Creative Conflict: The Politics of Welsh Devolution John Osmond. The Scottish Government Yearbook 1978 H. M. Drucker and M. G. Clarke (eds). Metropolitan Development and Change: The West Midlands - A Policy Review Frank Joyce (ed). The 1981 Census: A Local Authority Viewpoint R. W. Black. Neighbourhood Councils in England: A Report to the Department of the Environment Stephen Humble and Jennifer Talbot. INLOGOV Register of Research and Intelligence Units A. G. Bovaid (ed). The Press and Publicity for Public Participation Peter Stringer. The Economics of Housing D. C. Stafford. Towards the Comprehensive University Robin Pedley. The Reorganized National Health Service Ruth Levitt. Claim in Time: A Study of the Time Limit Rules for Claiming Social Security Benefits Martin Partington. Justice for Juveniles: The 1969 Children and Young Persons Act—A Case for Reform? Philip Priestley, Denise Fears and Roger Fuller. Open Prisons Howard Jones and Paul Comes, assisted by Richard Stockford. Constitutional and Administrative Law E. C. S. Wade and G. Godfrey Phillips. The Court of Justice of the European Communities L. Nelville Brown and Francis G. Labour and the Law Sir Otto Kahn-Freund. Aid and Development in Southern Africa David Jones, Croom Helm in association with Overseas Development Institute Christian Democracy in Western Germany Geoffrey Pridham     

Covert action's proper role in U.S. policy

Gerald Seymour: The Running Target William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1990, 336 p., $19.95.

Robert Ludlum: The Bourne Ultimatum Random House, New York, 1990, 611 p., $21.95.

Graham Ison: Confirm Or Deny

St. Martin's Press, New York, 1989, 317 p., $17.95.

David Doyle: An Accurate Watch

William Morrow and Company, New York, 1990, 408 p., $20.95.     

State and local government set-aside programs and minority business development in the post-croson era: the efficacy of disparity studies

Since the Supreme Court's decision in City I of Richmond v. J. A. Croson in early 1989, disparity studies or minority business studies or discrimination studies have become a focal point in state and local government jurisdictions' Minority Business Enterprise set-aside policies. Disparity studies have been conducted in more than sixty jurisdictions around the United States. This article discusses (1) the status of MBE set-aside programs after Croson, (2) examines the efficacy of disparity studies as mechanisms for justifying the adoption or continuation of set-aside programs in state and local governmental jurisdictions, (3) provides discussion of specific procedural analyses which have been major components of a disparity study and (4) provides a summary discussion of disparity studies conducted in five jurisdictions. The conclusion notes several weaknesses of disparity studies that, if addressed, would enhance their utilty.     

Retrenched,but Still Desired? Perceptions Regarding the Social Legitimacy of the Welfare State in Russia Compared with EU Countries

Abstract

This article explores how the retrenchment of the Russian welfare state has affected Russians’ attitudes towards it. Using European Social Survey data, we find that the retrenchment has not eroded Russians’ strong preference for a comprehensive system, despite their dissatisfaction with its outcomes. Further, we find that in Russia, some of the individual socioeconomic characteristics have a different effect on people's attitudes to social welfare compared to equivalent groups in EU countries. Overall, as in the EU, attitudes are multidimensional: a positive stance towards some aspects of the welfare state coexists with a critical approach towards others.     

India 2014: Facebook ‘Like’ as a Predictor of Election Outcomes

Michael Hill and Lian Kwen Fee The Politics of Nation Building and Citizenship in Singapore (London and New York: Routledge, 1995) 285 pp.

Junko Kato, The Problem of Bureaucratic Rationality: Tax Politics In Japan (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994).

Joachim Glaubitz, Between Tokyo and Moscow: The History of an Uneasy Relationship, 1972 to the 1990s. (London: Hurst and Company, 1995), pp. XII, 308.

A. Jeyaratnam Wilson, S.J.V. Chelvanayagam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947–1977 (London: Hurst and Company, 1994).

James Manor (ed.), Nehru to the Nineties : The Changing Office of Prime Minister in India (London : Hurst and Company, 1994), pp. 261.

Shimon Peres, The New Middle East. (Longmead: Element Books Limited, 1993), pp. 224.

R.B. Jain and Heinz Bongartz (eds.), Structural Adjustment, Public Policy and Bureaucracy in Developing Societies. (New Delhi: Har‐Anand Publications, 1994), pp. xvi, 424.

Hendri Supriyatmono, Nasution: Dwifungsi ABRI dan Kontribusi Ke Arah Reformasi Politik (Surakarta: Sebelas Maret University Press, 1994), 190 pp.     

Jihadist Highway to Jihadist Haven: Turkey's Jihadi Policies and Western Security

Turkish support to jihadists is not merely a tactic aimed at removing Assad from power. It stems from a strategic decision on the part of Turkish authorities to influence Middle East affairs through non-state actors, much as Iran has been doing for some time. Turkey's support of jihadists transiting into Syria and its establishment of close ties with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood are joint aspects of this strategy. Turkish authorities have permitted Al Qaeda sympathizers to use pro-government media to promote their beliefs. The authorities have adopted a new political language that fuels anti-American and anti-Western sentiments. Prosecutors who have attempted to prevent shipments of weapons to Al Qaeda–affiliated groups in Syria have been fired and in some cases incarcerated. Indeed, by now Turkish prosecutors and the Turkish National Police are thoroughly intimidated. Not a single counterterror operation has been launched to disrupt Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)’s networks or recruitment activities. The Turkish National Intelligence Organization has been given full responsibility to deal with jihadist activities, without any active oversight, and the police are loath to venture into their territory. As a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Turkey's jihadi policies have direct and indirect impact on Western security. This article examines Turkey's jihadi policies by examining official statements, media reports, interviews, and fieldwork.     

Pakistan's industrial families: The extent,causes, and effects of their economic power

There has been much interest lately in the phenomenon of industrial growth in Pakistan and in the leading industrial families who were in the centre of that growth. [G. F. Papanek, 1967; G. F. Papanek, 1971; H. Papanek, 1972]. There have been few efforts, however to measure directly the importance of these families and the causes and effects of their economic power. This article will attempt to provide some of these measures.

Section I estimates the overall concentration in the manufacturing sector in Pakistan and provides a few international comparisons. Section II will provide estimates of the more traditional concentration by industry, along with estimates of the leading families’ roles in those industries. Section III discusses the origins of both kinds of concentration. And Section IV will analyze the consequences ‐economic and non‐economic ‐ of this concentration. The data in this article relate mostly to 1968.¹     

Re-scaling the debate on Russian economic growth: Regional restructuring and development asynchronies

This article provides a critique of the literature on Russian economic growth and argues that broadening the growth debate to include regional perspectives may cast new light on economic processes at work in the varied geographical context of Russia. The article shows that growth in Russia's regions is much more comprehensive than often realised in the West and is closely associated with rising levels of industrial production in the overwhelming majority of regions. This contradicts the perception that resource dependency is the only formula of success within Russia. The author also provides a close examination of Leningrad oblast', once declining but recently one of the fastest growing regions in the Russian Federation. However, although the general vector of development has changed radically, the case of Leningrad oblast' demonstrates that the growing economy perpetuates the landscape of unevenness. New technologically intensive loci of development have paralleled ‘underinvested’ areas—despite being situated within the same administrative and political context. Nevertheless, growth continues to trickle down to less advantageous areas, both buttressing and spurring national growth as a whole.     

Exhaustion and Exclusion in the African Village: The Non-State Social Welfare of Informal Reciprocity in Rural Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire

This paper examines the consequences for equity of different patterns of non-state social welfare provision, specifically the informal institutions of reciprocity among families, friends, and village neighbors in rural West Africa. Based on over 18 months of fieldwork in similar regions on either side of the Ghana-Cote d’Ivoire border, this paper challenges many existing assumptions in the literature, revealing that the informal institutions of reciprocity were not only less vibrant overall, but also differed strikingly in terms of who was helping who and how in particular localities. The paper argues that the informal institutions of reciprocity were more exhausted in the Ghanaian villages and more exclusive in the Ivoirian ones. The study highlights that the informal system of non-state social welfare provided by the family, friends, and neighborhood did not simply expand to fill the functional gaps left by the neoliberal retrenchment of the state. The paper concludes that when policies are designed based on an overly romanticized image of kinship and communal reciprocity in Africa, it is the very poor that increasingly fall through the gaps of the state and non-state system of social welfare.     

Education: The management of the teaching profession—A note

Responding to Poverty: The Politics of Cash and Care. By Saul Becker. London, 1997. Pp.223. £12.99 pb.

Equal Opportunities and Social Policy. By Barbara Bagilhole. Longman, 1997. Pp.221. £14.99.

Policies for a Just Society. By David Donnison. Macmillan, 1998. pp.218. £40.00 hb; £12.50 pb.

Partnership against Poverty and Exclusion? By Mike Geddes. The Policy Press, 1997. Pp.136. £12.95 pb.

Youth, the ‘Underclass’ and Social Exclusion. By Robert MacDonald. Routledge, 1997. Pp.228. £45.00 hb; £13.99 pb.

Affirming the Comprehensive Ideal. By Richard Pring and Geoffrey Walford. Falmer, 1997. Pp.209. £42.00 hb; £14.95 pb.

Punishment in the Community: The Future of Criminal Justice. By Anne Worrall. Longman, 1997. Pp.170. £12.99 pb.     

Cash Transfers and Citizenship: Evidence from South Africa

Theoretical research has assumed a role for cash transfers in forging a state-citizen contract, yet evidence is scarce regarding whether social protection promotes citizenship among claimants in practice. The article explores the implications of cash transfers for notions of citizenship in the narratives of transfer recipients in Johannesburg, South Africa. Cash transfers created a space for state-citizen exchange, helping topersonalise views of the state, and giving citizens grounds for holding the state accountable. However, boundaries between state and citizens' responsibilities were contested, suggesting that expectations of a contractual relationship with the state were weak. Cash transfers are an important but partial means of promoting citizenship.     

Book Reviews

Book review in this article The Intellectual Crisis in American Public Administration Vincent Ostrom Maladministration and its Remedies K. C. Wheare The Administrative Factor: Papers in Organization, Politics and Development Bernard Schaffer Bureaucracy: Servant or Master? William A.Niskanen Government in the Federal Republic of Germany: Tire Executive at Work. Nevil Johnson Government and Industry in Britain Stephen Blank. The Parliamentary Structuring of British Road-Rail Freight Coordination Jordan Jay Hillman. The Changing National Health Service R.G.S.Brown A New Portrait of Social Work Barbara Rodgers and Tune Stevenson