Insurance: a way of financing the public sector?

Bent Greve

Chapter 3 in Concise Introduction to Financing Welfare States, 2026, pp 51-57 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The focus in this chapter is on the possible use of insurance – voluntary and/or obligatory – as a way to finance public sector activities or reduce the need for taxes and duties. This is because if insurance is used it can reduce the need for public resources and then, being an indirect way of financing, it will reduce the need for taxes and duties. This also implies that people who pay into these have certain rights and reduce the need for receiving various resources from the welfare state. Thus, insurance might be an alternative, mainly by being a way to reduce the direct cost for welfare states as the insurance companies might have to pay if a covered need for a person arises. The impact of who and under what conditions people have access to and the possible impact on the degree of inequality of such an approach is also included in the presentation.

Keywords: Insurance; Market-failure; Inequality; Social Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035359875
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