Rethinking the Welfare State: The prospects for ... - e-Library

Recommendations

Info

Conclusion 213 major puzzles. The trends observable in many countries over the past two decades or so towards economic deregulation (including trade liberalization) and privatization and the introduction of competition into hitherto monopolized sectors, in most cases have generated substantial benefits for consumers, 8 but consumers are the quintessential example of diffuse interests, who in these contexts seem to have triumphed over concentrated incumbent producer interests, contrary to the predictions of Public Choice theory. Similarly, the dramatic growth in environmental, health and safety, and other forms of social regulation in recent years again appears to reflect the triumph of consumer, environmental, worker, and related racial and gender interests over concentrated producer interests. Thus, in our view, Public Choice theory does not have a well-developed dynamic account of what sorts of forces disrupt existing political equilibria and lead over (often relatively short periods of) time to non-incremental policy changes. 9 Government by voucher as an idea Our conclusions are perhaps not surprising. Once we move beyond mere aphorisms or sloganeering, the detailed design of voucher systems raises technically complex and normatively contentious issues. Moreover, these design issues are likely to elicit substantially different responses and different efficiency-equity trade-offs from one programmatic context to another. These conclusions are best under-scored by briefly reviewing our tentative and no doubt highly contestable design proposals in each of the programmatic areas that we have surveyed against the major design issues which we identified at the outset of this book. The case for redistribution and its form Both the case for redistribution in general and the case for redistribution in kind are inherently highly contestable normative issues. Any voucher system implicitly provides an affirmative answer to both questions. In the programmatic areas reviewed, primary and secondary school education and child care seem principally to implicate the distributive justice, social and political externalities, and incomplete capital markets rationales for vouchers, and somewhat less strongly the paternalistic rationale. Postsecondary education and job-training programs principally implicate the distributive justice and incomplete capital markets rationale, much less strongly the social and political externalities rationales, and weakly, if at all, the paternalism rationale. Health care and long-term care strongly implicate the distributive justice, political externalities, and incomplete insurance markets rationales, less strongly the social externalities rationale. Because of information asymmetries between patients and physicians, there is a paternalistic rationale for regulating service quality in this market. Legal aid implicates principally the distributive justice and incomplete insurance markets rationales, but also to a significant extent the social externalities rationale (in terms of promoting respect for the rule of law), and only weakly the paternalistic rationale. Food stamps and low-income housing programs principally implicate the distributive justice rationale, but evidence of
Rethinking the selfare state 214 the near cash equivalence for voucher programs in these contexts suggest a weak functional basis for tied as opposed to cash transfers. Qualified consumers Here the central issue is likely to be, in many contexts, whether the entitlement should be universal or means-tested. Inadequacy of endowments as a rationale for a voucher system will tend to favour the latter, while social and political externalities, incomplete insurance markets, and paternalism may favour the former. In our programmatic contexts, the case for universal entitlements is strongest with respect to primary and secondary education and child care because of social and political externalities and citizenship, social solidarity and equality of opportunity concerns. The case for universal entitlements is much weaker in the case of the subset of students with the aptitude and desire for postsecondary education, because of the high private returns to such education and the strongly regressive nature of universal entitlements in this context. However, distributive justice and incomplete capital market concerns justify some form of means-tested demand-side assistance, ideally in the form of income-contingent loans where repayment obligations are calibrated to post-graduation economic success (rather than preprogram financial means) and grants that are responsive to concerns with accessibility for debtaverse students from low-income families. Further, to the extent that income-contingent loan programs can largely be self-financing and do not generate excessive administrative costs, there is a strong argument for making that component of the voucher program universally available. With respect to job-training programs for unemployed adults, the social externalities associated with unemployment may argue for limited forms of universal entitlements. On the assumption that most unemployed individuals lack means, distributive justice concerns may militate in the same direction. For long-term classroom or remedial re-training for the subset of long-term unemployed, arguably distributive justice and incomplete capital market considerations dominate and call for similar forms of means-tested financial assistance (e.g. income-contingent loans) as would apply more generally in the post-secondary educational sector. With respect to health care, conventional social externalities and paternalism arguments have limited force in this context in supporting universal entitlements, while distributive justice concerns would argue for some form of means-tested assistance, thus ensuring access by all citizens to essential health care services. However, a major concern relates to incomplete private insurance markets which may preclude access to coverage for high-risk consumers, whatever their means, and may justify mandatory pooling through some form of social health insurance scheme. Another concern relates to political externalities with respect to a Rawlsian primary good (like primary and secondary education). The exit option in this context is likely to attenuate substantially the effectiveness of the voice option in maintaining the quality of health care services in the entitlement market. In these respects, decisions by wealthier citizens to opt out of the entitlement system entails substantial negative political externalities for those who have no choice but to remain in the entitlement market. The US health care market well exemplifies the effect of these externalities, compared with the universal entitlement systems that exist in most other developed countries. With respect to legal aid, social externalities associated with respect for the rule of law require that citizens should be able to ascertain the law that relates to
Page 2:
Rethinking the Welfare State This b
Page 5 and 6:
First published 2005 by Routledge 2
Page 7 and 8:
Preface This book is the by-product
Page 10 and 11:
1 Introduction This book is in part
Page 12 and 13:
Introduction 3 often done so only a
Page 14 and 15:
Introduction 5 Housing vouchers In
Page 16 and 17:
Introduction 7 The promise of vouch
Page 18 and 19:
Introduction 9 The Poor Law treated
Page 20 and 21:
Introduction 11 Promoting economic
Page 22 and 23:
2 The case for vouchers Introductio
Page 24 and 25:
The case for vouchers 15 Figure 2.1
Page 26 and 27:
The case for vouchers 17 government
Page 28 and 29:
supply determined by state 5. Publi
Page 30 and 31:
The case for vouchers 21 Some comme
Page 32 and 33:
The case for vouchers 23 In the sec
Page 34 and 35:
The case for vouchers 25 investment
Page 36 and 37:
The case for vouchers 27 private ac
Page 38 and 39:
The case for vouchers 29 manipulate
Page 40 and 41:
The case for vouchers 31 opportunit
Page 42 and 43:
The case for vouchers 33 savings de
Page 44 and 45:
The case for vouchers 35 goods and
Page 46 and 47:
The case for vouchers 37 Advocates
Page 48 and 49:
The case for vouchers 39 this way,
Page 50 and 51:
3 Food stamps Introduction The US F
Page 52 and 53:
Food stamps 43 features of what has
Page 54 and 55:
Food stamps 45 A policy history of
Page 56 and 57:
Food stamps 47 in turn could be uti
Page 58 and 59:
Food stamps 49 as assistance would
Page 60 and 61:
Food stamps 51 than they would with
Page 62 and 63:
Food stamps 53 Specifically, the pr
Page 64 and 65:
Food stamps 55 seems to discriminat
Page 66 and 67:
4 Low-income housing Introduction A
Page 68 and 69:
Low-income housing 59 bachelor apar
Page 70 and 71:
Low-income housing 61 policies can
Page 72 and 73:
Low-income housing 63 It can thus b
Page 74 and 75:
Low-income housing 65 towns and com
Page 76 and 77:
Low-income housing 67 part of low-i
Page 78 and 79:
Low-income housing 69 The principal
Page 80 and 81:
Low-income housing 71 operating cos
Page 82 and 83:
Low-income housing 73 Ensuring a de
Page 84 and 85:
5 Legal aid Introduction Essential
Page 86 and 87:
Legal aid 77 distribution. When loo
Page 88 and 89:
Legal aid 79 redistribute social ad
Page 90 and 91:
Legal aid 81 • It limits the use
Page 92 and 93:
Legal aid 83 abide by a series of r
Page 94 and 95:
Legal aid 85 significant start-up c
Page 96 and 97:
Legal aid 87 agent? The problem of
Page 98 and 99:
Legal aid 89 jail. Additionally, by
Page 100 and 101:
Legal aid 91 themselves whether the
Page 102 and 103:
Legal aid 93 First, clear standards
Page 104 and 105:
Legal aid 95 corresponding voucher,
Page 106 and 107:
6 Health care Introduction Health c
Page 108 and 109:
Health care 99 1975-39 percent of t
Page 110 and 111:
Health care 101 service basis. That
Page 112 and 113:
Health care 103 A second limitation
Page 114 and 115:
Health care 105 general practitione
Page 116 and 117:
Health care 107 Managed competition
Page 118 and 119:
Health care 109 While these feature
Page 120 and 121:
Health care 111 Qualified consumers
Page 122 and 123:
Health care 113 pay for is an entir
Page 124 and 125:
Health care 115 risk patients or so
Page 126 and 127:
Health care 117 and unpredictable.
Page 128 and 129:
Health care 119 redeem the governme
Page 130 and 131:
Health care 121 Conclusion We belie
Page 132 and 133:
Early childhood education 123 There
Page 134 and 135:
Early childhood education 125 1989
Page 136 and 137:
Early childhood education 127 limit
Page 138 and 139:
Early childhood education 129 Desig
Page 140 and 141:
Early childhood education 131 nomin
Page 142 and 143:
Early childhood education 133 manif
Page 144 and 145:
Early childhood education 135 opted
Page 146 and 147:
Early childhood education 137 Despi
Page 148 and 149:
Primary and secondary education 139
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173: Primary and secondary education 163
Page 174 and 175: Primary and secondary education 165
Page 176 and 177: 9 Post-secondary education Introduc
Page 178 and 179: Post-secondary education 169 and am
Page 180 and 181: Post-secondary education 171 consid
Page 182 and 183: Post-secondary education 173 Qualit
Page 184 and 185: Post-secondary education 175 United
Page 186 and 187: Post-secondary education 177 system
Page 188 and 189: Post-secondary education 179 Qualif
Page 190 and 191: Post-secondary education 181 whethe
Page 192 and 193: Post-secondary education 183 univer
Page 194 and 195: Post-secondary education 185 will a
Page 196 and 197: 10 Labour market training Introduct
Page 198 and 199: Labour market training 189 conflict
Page 200 and 201: Labour market training 191 some ben
Page 202 and 203: Labour market training 193 extent t
Page 204 and 205: Labour market training 195 ineffici
Page 206 and 207: Labour market training 197 provider
Page 208 and 209: Labour market training 199 through
Page 210 and 211: Labour market training 201 criteria
Page 212 and 213: Labour market training 203 labour m
Page 214 and 215: Labour market training 205 costs or
Page 216 and 217: Labour market training 207 able to
Page 218 and 219: Labour market training 209 reflect
Page 220 and 221: Conclusion 211 considering the prom
Page 224 and 225: Conclusion 215 them in their variou
Page 226 and 227: Conclusion 217 whether justified or
Page 228 and 229: Conclusion 219 such complexity or c
Page 230 and 231: Conclusion 221 require political re
Page 232 and 233: Notes 223 22 William Raspberry, “
Page 234 and 235: Notes 225 Psychology, 3(5) (1984),
Page 236 and 237: Notes 227 85; see also Harvey Rosen
Page 238 and 239: Notes 229 recognition built into co
Page 240 and 241: Notes 231 49 Tuttle, supra note 4,
Page 242 and 243: Notes 233 24 Gautreaux v.Chicago Ho
Page 244 and 245: Notes 235 92 William S.Strange, The
Page 246 and 247: Notes 237 52 Blankenberg, E., “Co
Page 248 and 249: Notes 239 16 See Colleen Flood and
Page 250 and 251: Notes 241 69 Martin Pfaff and Dietm
Page 252 and 253: Notes 243 116 Johan Hjertqvist, “
Page 254 and 255: Notes 245 27 Gordon Cleveland and D
Page 256 and 257: Notes 247 68 Fuller et al, supra no
Page 258 and 259: Notes 249 6 See, for example, Cass
Page 260 and 261: Notes 251 attention to the quality
Page 262 and 263: Notes 253 81 Ibid. 82 Ibid., p. 4.
Page 264 and 265: Notes 255 147 In the Alberta charte
Page 266 and 267: Notes 257 170 Michael Fullan, The N
Page 268 and 269: Notes 259 19 This lack of flexibili
Page 270 and 271: Notes 261 73 Riddell, supra note 3,
Page 272 and 273:
Notes 263 may have general human ca
Page 274 and 275:
Notes 265 69 Eduardo Martinez Espin
Page 276 and 277:
Notes 267 3 Steven Kelman, Making P
Page 278 and 279:
Index 269 costs of 141; designing n
Page 280 and 281:
Index 271 background 128; designing
Page 282 and 283:
Index 273 Hart, O. et al. 19, 25, 2
Page 284 and 285:
Index 275 effect of globalization 2
Page 286 and 287:
voucher system 71-4, 75-7 Luban, D.
Page 288 and 289:
as credence good 172, 268(n169); de
Page 290 and 291:
Index 281 and legal aid 85-90; obje
Page 292:
Index 283 and insuring individual r
show all

Rethinking the Welfare State: The prospects for ... - e-Library

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?