Improving the Performance of the European Social Model - The Welfare State over the Life Cycle

Assar Lindbeck

No 587, Working Paper Series from Research Institute of Industrial Economics

Abstract: The achievements of social-welfare arrangements in Western Europe are well known: considerable income security, relatively little poverty and, in some countries, ample supply of social services. But there are also well-known weaknesses and hence considerable scope for improvement. Three types of weaknesses are considered in this paper: social-welfare arrangements are often not financially robust to shocks; individuals make undesirable behavioural adjustments in response to welfare-state arrangements and their financing; and social-welfare arrangements are often poorly adapted to recent changes in socio-economic conditions and preferences of individuals. I discuss these weaknesses, and alternative methods to mitigate them, in the context of various types of welfare-state arrangements that the individual may encounter over the life cycle.

Keywords: Social Policies; Welfare State; Labour Market; Family Structure; Preferences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H00 H40 H50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-01-02
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Working Paper: Improving the Performance of the European Social Model - The Welfare State over the Life Cycle (2003)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0587

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