Political-Economy Analysis on the System of Social Protection Provision with Focus on the Net Social Expenditure

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K03713
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Public finance/Public economy
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Konishi Hideki 早稲田大学, 政治経済学術院, 教授 (50225471)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 純社会支出 / 社会保障システム / 再分配効果 / 隠れた福祉国家

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project reexamined the redistributive effects of social protection systems in OECD countries, using the dataset of the net social expenditures. While the traditional studies use the gross social expenditures as a measure of the size of social protection, this study instead employs the net social expenditures, which incorporate taxes and subsidies on social benefits as well as private social expenditures provided by corporations, voluntarily or compulsorily, to their employees. Our dynamic panel analysis reveals that the redistributive impact of a social protection system decreases as the share of private social expenditures in its total social expenditures increases, and the social protection systems of the so-called "hidden welfare states" such as the USA has only a redistributive impact that is statistically insignificant.

Free Research Field

財政学，政治経済学，公共経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

学術的には，これまでほとんど注目されてこなかった純社会支出概念を用いて社会保障システムの再分配効果を，本格的な計量分析によって計測し，いわゆる「隠れた福祉国家」では社会保障制度に再分配効果がほとんど認められないことを明らかにした点に意義がある．社会的には，これからの日本のように高齢化にしたがって民間ベースでの社会保障給付の供給が重要性を増す社会では，分配不平等の抑制という観点からは所得税や消費税を通じた再分配の強化が必要になるということを明らかにした点に意義がある．