This article begins with an examination of the role of social services as the key instrument of social investment strategy, presenting an empirical analysis of its impact on economic performance. A pooled time series, cross-section analysis was conducted with the data of 15 welfare states from 1990 to 2007 under the 'social investment hypothesis' that more social service orientedness brings about a greater positive effect on the economy. The results show that a larger share of social service spending in the total social expenditure - more social service orientedness - contributes to economic growth and labour market performance, whereas a larger aggregate size of the welfare state may have a negative effect on employment. In conclusion, this study suggests that the relatively ambiguous welfare strategy of social investment could be clarified as a 'transition from income security to livelihood security' in which emphasis is placed on social service. Key Practitioner Message: {filled circle} This study suggests that the key instrument of social investment strategy is social service; {filled circle} The results show that more social service orientedness contributes to economic growth and labour market performance.
CITATION STYLE
Ahn, S. H., & Kim, S. W. (2015). Social investment, social service and the economic performance of welfare states. International Journal of Social Welfare, 24(2), 109–119. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.12094
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