This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (11) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Scruggs, L. Articles by Allan, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Welfare-state decommodification in 18 OECD countries: a replication and revision

University of Connecticut, USA, lyle.scruggs{at}uconn.edu

James Allan

Wittenburg University, Ohio, USA

We present and discuss a replication and reassessment of the welfare-state decommodification index, and introduce a new, publicly available data set of key welfare-state programme characteristics. Using the same programme features used to create the ‘decommodification index’ in The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, one of the most widely cited sources in the field, we are able to replicate the results quite closely. However, our investigation suggests a number of likely errors in the original formulation. Once these are accounted for, we find very limited empirical support for the ‘three worlds’ typology in the decommodification data. Though some clear differences remain, there is also much less overall variation among countries. Furthermore, there is little evidence of ‘clustering’ among programme scores, a finding which is at odds with the idea of distinctive national regimes. Our results point to the need for a detailed re-investigation of welfare-state benefits in advanced industrial democracies. Our data set helps to provide a basis for such an assessment.

Key Words: comparative political economy • social policy • welfare state

Journal of European Social Policy, Vol. 16, No. 1, 55-72 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0958928706059833


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Wendt Mapping European healthcare systems: a comparative analysis of financing, service provision and access to healthcare Journal of European Social Policy, December 1, 2009; 19(5): 432 - 445. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. M. Jaeger United But Divided: Welfare Regimes and the Level and Variance in Public Support for Redistribution Eur. Sociol. Rev., December 1, 2009; 25(6): 723 - 737. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Lohmann Welfare States, Labour Market Institutions and the Working Poor: A Comparative Analysis of 20 European Countries Eur. Sociol. Rev., August 1, 2009; 25(4): 489 - 504. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Bolzendahl Directions of Decommodification: Gender and Generosity in 12 OECD Nations, 1980-2000 Eur. Sociol. Rev., March 18, 2009; (2009) jcp010v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Tae Kuen Kim Globalization and state-supported welfare: A test of the curve-linear hypothesis in OECD countries International Social Work, March 1, 2009; 52(2): 209 - 222. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. Jensen Worlds of welfare services and transfers Journal of European Social Policy, May 1, 2008; 18(2): 151 - 162. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Ganghof Tax mixes and the size of the welfare state: causal mechanisms and policy implications Journal of European Social Policy, November 1, 2006; 16(4): 360 - 373. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. Wincott Paradoxes of New Labour Social Policy: Toward Universal Child Care in Europe's "Most Liberal" Welfare Regime? Soc. Pol., June 1, 2006; 13(2): 286 - 312. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]