Explaining Social Policy Adoption in South Korea
The Cases of the Medical Insurance Law and the Minimum Wage Law
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2116785 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jaehyun Joo (The Korea Institute of Public Administration, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1999 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 387-412 |
| Publication date | 1999-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Social Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2794 • E-ISSN: 1469-7823 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s004727949900567x |
| OpenAlex | W2133726534 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 17 |
| References cited | 14 |
Although policy priority has always been on economic management in East Asian countries, those countries also developed some notable social policies. However, explanations for the development of social policies in those countries have been relatively underdeveloped compared to those of their economic management policies. This study adds to our understanding of the social policy development in East Asia by examining two cases of social policy adoption in South Korea - the Medical Insurance Law and the Minimum Wage Law. This Korean case study shows a pattern of policy development primarily driven by particular 'interests' (state elites' perceived political survival needs and their reputation in international society), with 'environmental' factors and 'policy legacies' playing a supplementary role. In particular, these policies are interpreted as anticipatory concessions to moderate members of Korean society by the state elites who aimed to stabilise their regimes by separating radicals from moderates. In addition, the medical insurance scheme is understood as a by-product of the competition between the South and North Korean regimes. This study also draws our attention to such issues as the similarities and differences between the East Asian welfare regimes and the change and continuity in the development of social policies in East Asia
China · Development economics · East Asia · Economic growth · Economics · Political science · Politics · Social insurance · Social policy · Social Welfare · State (computer science) · Welfare · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies
States in the Global Economy
Is the state being ‘transformed’ by globalisation?
Introduction
Globalisation and social security expansion in East Asia
Withering welfare? Globalisation, political economic institutions, and contemporary welfare states
Disappearing taxes or the ‘race to the middle’? Fiscal policy in the OECD
New regimes, new capacities
France
Welfare state and the social economy in compressed development
The Cold War and the welfare state in divided Korea and Germany
The Dynamics of Welfare Policy-Making in South Korea
Responding to Globalization
Comparing Minimum Wage Policies in East Asia
Social Policy and Mortality Decline in East Asia and Latin America
Women Reconciling Paid and Unpaid Work in a Confucian Welfare State
The Fiscal Crisis of National Health Insurance in the Republic of Korea
Green means stop
Elite and specialized interviewing.
Social Security Provision in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea
Society and Social Policy
Industrialization and Welfare
State Expenditure in Advanced Capitalism
South Korea in 1984
South Korea in 1983
South Korea in 1985
South Korea in 1986
Beyond European Welfare Regimes
Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan
Dynamics of Social Policy Change
Theories of the Welfare State
States and Social Policies
| Unique citing works | 17 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,68 |
| Citation span | 2001 - 2022 (22) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 16 |