Abstract

The purpose of this article is to re-examine the Western perspective on the relationship between East Asia’s growth economy and the underdevelopment of state welfare, by analyzing the Korean case between the 1960s and the 1980s, when active governmental intervention in the economy led to the accomplishment of rapid economic growth. This article aims to answer the questions: “Was state welfare genuinely underdeveloped under the growth economy?” “If so, which factors hindered its development?”

To this end, this article first refutes the contentions of the Developmental Welfare System (hereinafter, DWS) theory regarding the underdevelopment of state welfare in East Asian growth economies, through an empirical analyses of the following: overlooking the diverse variables or indices in measuring the level of state welfare, international comparison without considering different budget systems, inattention to contextual differences, overemphasis on the input aspect and negligence of the output aspect, giving undue value to quantitative methods, and paying little attention to welfare beneficiaries aspect. The following chapter traces the reasons why the Korean growth economy experienced underdevelopment of state welfare using comprehensive frameworks: a large-scale resource distribution to defense and education, a low level of electoral competition, the underdevelopment of socialist or progressive political parties, political authoritarianism and a weak opposition, a lack of social citizenship and the preservation of family values, the underdevelopment of trade unionism, and inactivation of civil society. This article concludes with constructive criticism on the limitations of the DWS in comprehensively grasping the reality of state welfare under the East Asian growth economy.

Quotes from the Paper

“However, while the developmental welfare system (DWS) clearly highlights the causes of the underdevelopment of state welfare in East Asian growth economies, it leaves some questions that must be given more attention. It neglects to consider the different situations that individual countries confronted during the period of economic growth, by treating them as a single bundle. Moreover, the DWS judges the underdevelopment of state welfare by evaluating a single facet of welfare expenditure, failing to grasp the comprehensive nature of the advancement or delay of state welfare. Further, the DWS places undue value on the economic interpretation of welfare development. In reality, the factors that influence welfare development are diverse and complicated.” 

“In Korea, while the total volume of welfare expenditure was small under the growth economy, welfare institutionalization greatly advanced during the same period. Numerous welfare-related laws and institutions were established during the transitional period of regime change in the 1960s and the 1980s. However, while many welfare institutions had been introduced by the 1970s, some of them proved ineffectual or their implementation was postponed.” 

“Certainly, it is undeniable that the preferential allocation of scarce resources under the growth economy, at the cost of welfare expenditure, contributed to rapid government-led economic growth. However, it is risky to conclusively assert that the underdevelopment of state welfare was attributable solely to the preferential distribution of resources by relying on the simple evidence of low welfare spending.” 

Author 
Soon-yang Kim is Professor of Public Policy and Administration at Yeungnam University. He holds two Ph.D. degrees: one in social policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK and the other in public policy and administration from Seoul National University, Korea. His main academic interests are in social policy, the developmental state, the welfare state, and policy theories. He has published more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals. His recent books include Health Politics in Korea (Seoul National University Press), Outsiders in the Korean Multicultural Society, Health Systems in Transition: Republic of Korea (WHO), and Contracting-out System of Welfare Services.