Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T08:31:08.379Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The dualisation of unemployment compensation in emerging economies: Brazil, China and Russia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2020

Umut Riza Ozkan*
Affiliation:
School of Industrial Relations, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
*
CONTACT Umut Riza Ozkan [email protected]

Abstract

This article examines the development of a ‘dualised’ welfare regime – generous earnings-related unemployment compensation for ‘insiders’ and residual needs-based social assistance provision for ‘outsiders’ – in China and Brazil, which experienced impressive economic development in recent decades. It argues that such a welfare outcome can partly be accounted for by the ongoing influence of ‘insiders’, which was conditional upon the pace and nature of economic liberalisation reforms and their representation in institutional channels of social policy-making. It also demonstrates that the new social/unemployment assistance schemes for ‘outsiders’ emerged due to both governments’ fear of losing their power in politics; yet, these schemes were designed in a residual way since ‘outsiders’ did not possess the same political resources as ‘insiders’ did. The paper, moreover, draws from the Russian experience (a negative case) to demonstrate that such a dualised welfare outcome did not take place because the ‘insiders’ were weak, owing to a radical and orthodox liberalisation and they did not have access to institutional venues to influence social policy-making process.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/21699763.2017.1363800

References

Abu Sharkh, M., & Gough, I. (2010). Global welfare regimes: A cluster analysis. Global Social Policy, 10(1), 2758.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amadeo, E., Gill, I., & Neri, M. (2000). Brazil: The pressure points in labour legislation. Ensaios Econômicos EPGE, 237.Google Scholar
Anderson, J. (1990). Legislation, development and legislating development in Brazilian rural labor markets: The sugarcane cutters of Pernambuco. Washington, DC: Economic Development Institute of the World Bank.Google Scholar
Arcanjo, M. (2012). Unemployment insurance reform – 1991–2006: A new balance between rights and obligations in France, Germany, Portugal and Spain. Social Policy & Administration, 46(1), 120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Avelino, G., Brown, D. S., & Hunter, W. (2005). The effects of capital mobility, trade openness, and democracy on social spending in Latin America, 1980–1999. American Journal of Political Science, 49(3), 625641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrientos, A. (2013). The rise of social assistance in Brazil. Development and Change, 44(4), 887910.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrientos, A., Debowicz, D., & Woolard, I. (2014). Antipoverty transfers and inclusive growth in Brazil. International Research Initiative on Brazil and Africa Working Paper 04.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrientos, A., Niño-Zarazúa, M., & Maitrot, M. (2010). Social assistance in developing countries database (Version 5.0 July 2010). Manchester: Chronic Poverty Research Centre.Google Scholar
Bronstein, A. (2005). The new labour law of the Russian Federation. International Labour Review, 144(3), 291318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, P. G. (1995). State, labor, capital. Democratizing class relations in the southern cone. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Caraway, T. L., Crowley, S., & Cook, M. L. (2015). Russia's labour legacy: Making use of the past. In Caraway, T. L., Cook, M. L., & Crowley, S. (Eds.), Working through the past: Labour and authoritarian legacies in comparative perspective (pp. 122142). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, ILR Press.Google Scholar
Chadad, J. (2004). Foreign models in the adoption of unemployment insurance in Brazil. In Weyland, K. (Ed.), Learning from foreign models in Latin America (pp. 139165). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Chan, K. W. (2009). The Chinese hukou system at 50. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 50(2), 197221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, T., & Selden, M. (1994). The origins and social consequences of China's hukou system. The China Quaterly, 139, 644668.Google Scholar
Clegg, D. (2007). Continental drift: On unemployment policy change in Bismarckian welfare states. Social Policy & Administration, 41(6), 597617.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collier, R. B., & Mahoney, J. (1997). Adding collective actors to collective outcomes: Labor and recent democratization in South America and Southern Europe. Comparative Politics, 29(3), 285303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, L. J. (2013). Postcommunist welfare states: Reform politics in Russia and Eastern Europe. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, M. L. (2002). Labor reform and dual transitions in Brazil and the Southern Cone. Latin American Politics and Society, 44(1), 134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooney, S., Biddulph, S., Zhu, Y., & Kungang, L. (2007). China's new labour contract law: Responding to the growing complexity of labour relations in the PRC (p. 317). University of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper.Google Scholar
de Almeida, T., & Hermínia, M. (2004). Privatization: Reform through negotiation. In Font, M. A., Spanakos, A. P., Bordin, C., de Almeida, T., & Hermínia, M. (Eds.), Reforming Brazil (pp. 5370). New York, NY: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
de Andrade Alves, E. R., & Pastore, A. C. (1978). Import substitution and implicit taxation of agriculture in Brazil. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 60(5), 865871.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duckett, J. (2003). China's social security reforms and the comparative politics of market transition. Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, 19(1), 80101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duckett, J., & Hussain, A. (2008). Tackling unemployment in China: State capacity and governance issues. The Pacific Review, 21(2), 211229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emigh, R. (1997). The power of negative thinking: The use of negative case methodology in the development of sociological theory. Theory and Society, 26, 649684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emmenegger, P., Häusermann, S., Palier, B., & Seeleib-Kaiser, M. (2011). The age of dualization: Structure, policies, politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
EPLEX. (2009–2010). Employment protection legislation database. Geneva: International Labour Organization.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). Three worlds of welfare capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Esser, I., Ferrarini, T., Nelsen, K., Palme, J., & Sjöberg, O. (2013). Unemployment benefits in EU member states. Brussels: European Commission. Retrieved from ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=10852&langId=enGoogle Scholar
Etchemendy, S. (2011). Models of economic liberalization: Business, workers, and compensation in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Federal Republic of Brazil. (1963). Law No. 4204 of 1963: Statute of rural worker. Retrieved from http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/Leis/1950-1969/L4214.htmGoogle Scholar
Federal State Statistics Service Russia. (2017). Subsistence income. Retrieved February 25, 2017, from http://www.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_main/rosstat/en/main/Google Scholar
Filgueira, F. (2005). Welfare and democracy in Latin America: The development, crises and aftermath of universal, dual and exclusionary social states. UNRISD Project on Social Policy and Democratization.Google Scholar
Gallie, D., & Paugam, S. (2000). The experience of unemployment in Europe: The debate. In Gallie, D., & Paugam, S. (Eds.), Welfare regimes and the experience of unemployment in Europe (pp. 122). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gonzalez, R. H. (2010). Employment policies in Brazil: History, scope and limitations (Working Paper No. 70). Brasilia: International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.Google Scholar
Gough, I. (2004). Welfare regimes in development context: A global and regional analysis (pp. 1548). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gough, I., & Wood, G. (2004). Insecurity and welfare regimes in Asia, Africa and Latin America: Social policy in development contexts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gustafsson, B. A., & Quheng, D. (2011). Di Bao receipt and its importance for combating poverty in urban China. Poverty & Public Policy, 3(1), 116147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haggard, S., & Kaufman, R. (2008). Development, democracy, and welfare states: Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hsieh, C. T., & Song, Z. M. (2015). Grasp the large, let go of the small: The transformation of the state sector in China (No. w21006). Washington: National Bureau of Economic Research.Google Scholar
Houtzager, P. P., & Kurtz, M. J. (2000). The institutional roots of popular mobilization: State transformation and rural politics in Brazil and Chile, 1960–1995. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 42(2), 394424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, X. (2013). The politics of social welfare reform in urban China: Social welfare preferences and reform policies. Journal of Chinese Political Science, 18(1), 6185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huber, E., & Stephens, J. D. (2001). Development and crisis of the welfare state: Parties and policies in global markets. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huber, E., & Stephens, J. D. (2012). Democracy and the left: Social policy and inequality in Latin America. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, W., & Sugiyama, N. B. (2009). Democracy and social policy in Brazil: Advancing basic needs, preserving privileged interests. Latin American Politics and Society, 51(2), 2958.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ILO. (2014). World Social Security Report 2014/2015. Geneva: Author.Google Scholar
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (2017). Salário médio mensal real. Retrieved from http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/presidencia/noticias/imprensa/ppts/00000013140705132013070224735986.xlsGoogle Scholar
Javeline, D. L. (2009). Protest and the politics of blame: The Russian response to unpaid wages. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Jing, L. (2008). China's new Labor Contract Law and protection of workers. Fordham International Law Journal, 32, 10831131.Google Scholar
Kaufman, R. R. (1989). The politics of economic adjustment policy in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico: Experiences in the 1980s and challenges for the future. Policy Sciences, 22(3), 395413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaufman, R. R., & Segura-Ubiergo, A. (2001). Globalization, domestic politics, and social spending in Latin America: A time-series cross-section analysis, 1973–97. World Politics, 53(04), 553587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, L. (2002). Postcommunist divergence: A comparative analysis of the transition to capitalism in Poland and Russia. Studies in Comparative International Development, 37(3), 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King-lun, N. (2010). Social assistance policy and its impact on social development in China: The case of the Minimum Living Standard Scheme (MLSS). China Journal of Social Work, 3(1), 3552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kogut, B., & Spicer, A. (2002). Capital market development and mass privatization are logical contradictions: Lessons from Russia and the Czech Republic. Industrial and Corporate Change, 11(1), 137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kurtz, M. J., & Brooks, S. M. (2008). Embedding neoliberal reform in Latin America. World Politics, 60(02), 231280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lardy, N. R. (2005). Trade liberalization and its role in Chinese economic growth. In Tseng, W. & Cowen, D. (Eds.), India's and China's recent experience with reform and growth (pp. 158169). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Lee, C. K. (2007). Against the law: Labor protests in China's rustbelt and sunbelt. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Leung, J. C. (1995). The political economy of unemployment and unemployment insurance in the People's Republic of China. International Social Work, 38(2), 139149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leung, J. C. (2006). The emergence of social assistance in China. International Journal of Social Welfare, 15(3), 188198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewinbuk, K. P. (2008). Russia's labor pains: The slow creation of a culture of enforcement. Fordham International Law Journal, 32(3), 846887.Google Scholar
Mares, I., & Carnes, M. E. (2009). Social policy in developing countries. Annual Review of Political Science, 12, 93113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OECD. (2010). Tackling inequalities in Brazil, China, India, and South Africa: The role of labour market and social policies. Paris: Author.Google Scholar
OECD. (2011). Employment Outlook 2011. Paris: Author.Google Scholar
Ozkan, U. R. (2014). Comparing formal unemployment compensation systems in 15 OECD countries. Social Policy & Administration, 48(1), 4466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ozkan, U. R. (2016). Welfare regime change – or lack of change – in unemployment compensation. International Journal of Social Welfare, 25(2), 126135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierson, P. (1996). The new politics of the welfare state. World Politics, 48(2), 143179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polanyi, K. (1944). The great transformation: The economic and political origins of our time. New York, NY: Rinehart.Google Scholar
Rymkevitch, O. (2003). Codification of Russian labour law: Issues and perspectives. The International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations, 19(2), 143162.Google Scholar
Rudra, N., & Haggard, S. (2005). Globalization, democracy, and effective welfare spending in the developing world. Comparative Political Studies, 38(9), 10151049.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, B. R. (1988). Partly for sale: Privatization and state strength in Brazil and Mexico. Journal of Inter-American Studies and World Affairs, 30(4), 89116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, B. R. (1997). Big business and the politics of economic reform: Confidence and concertation in Brazil and Mexico. In Maxfield, S. & Schneider, B. R. (Eds.), Business and the state in developing countries (pp. 191215). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Shang, X., & Wu, X. (1999). Changing approaches of social protection: Social assistance reform in urban China. Social Policy and Society, 3(03), 259271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Social Security Administration. (2008). Social security programs throughout the world: Asia and the Pacific, 2008. Washington, DC: Office of Retirement and Disability Policy.Google Scholar
Social Security Administration. (2009). Social security programs throughout the world: The Americas, 2009. Washington, DC: Office of Retirement and Disability Policy.Google Scholar
Social Security Administration. (2010). Social security programs throughout the world: Europe, 2008. Washington, DC: Office of Retirement and Disability Policy.Google Scholar
Spulber, N. (1963). Contrasting economic patterns: Chinese and Soviet development strategies 1. Europe-Asia Studies, 15(1), 116.Google Scholar
Streeck, W., & Thelen, K. A. (2005). Beyond continuity: Institutional change in advanced political economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Walker, A., & Wong, C. K. (2004). The ethnocentric construction of the welfare state. In Kennett, P. (Ed.), A handbook of comparative social policy (pp. 116150). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Williams, L. A., & Woo, M. Y. (1995). Worthy unemployed: Societal stratification and unemployment insurance programs in China and the United States. Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, 33(3), 457520.Google Scholar
World Bank. (1995). World Bank development report: Workers in an integrating world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar