A Creative Evolution of the Welfare Regime under the Ever Changing Industrial Structures and Harsh Economic Conditions: A Case Study on Finland

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H04368
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 80010:Area studies-related
• Research Institution: Toyo University
• Principal Investigator: Yabunaga Chino 東洋大学, 国際学部, 教授 (10364845)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 徳丸 宜穂 関西大学, 政策創造学部, 教授 (00387656) ; 柴山 由理子 東海大学, 文化社会学部, 講師 (40824868)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 福祉国家 / 福祉改革 / フィンランド / 北欧モデル / イノベーション / 創造的進化 / 産業構造転換 / 福祉供給

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the welfare state, different actors react differently according to their experiences, cognitive frameworks, resources and capacities, and the interaction between actors leads to different outcomes. This study considered this as a creative evolutionary process and analysed policy experiments and reform cases in Finland.
The analysis of the long-term development process of the welfare state showed that tensions in party politics have created a unique system within the Nordic model, the analysis of recent changes in the welfare provision system showed that the main provider, the municipalities, have innovated themselves and created new services, and that welfare state reforms have created new demand, and the analysis has also shown that welfare state reforms have created new demand, which in turn has created new industries.

Free Research Field

社会政策

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ポスト工業社会における知識経済の進展はハイスピードで進んでいるが、これに対応しようとする福祉国家の変化や取組の影響や効果については、研究結果があまり蓄積されていなかった。本研究では、早い段階から知識経済化への対応をはじめながらも、社会支出規模が大きい普遍主義型の福祉国家であり、政府債務の拡大のために厳しい財政制約下にあるフィンランドにおける、財政効率化の圧力の克服、変化する社会経済への対応、革新的な取組の影響や効果を整理し、北欧型福祉国家やその改革が新産業創出やイノベーションを促進しうることを示した。