Should We Extend the Role of Private Social Expenditure?

Mark Pearson and John Martin ()

No 23, OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers from OECD Publishing

Abstract: Some people make great claims about the advantages to be gained from greater reliance on the private sector for the provision of social protection. Many of the claims for great macroeconomic advantages do not stand up to scrutiny. However, there is some reason to hope that private provision might promote microeconomic efficiency and services which are more responsive to consumer preferences than those provided by a single monopoly public sector provider. Drawing on examples from recent OECD country experiences with private health insurance, care for children and the elderly, and private pension provision, three main conclusions can be drawn. First, opening provision to a diversity of providers has often promoted more choice and innovation. Second, however, efficiency gains have often been limited. This is due to a number of inter-related reasons: (a) Individualisation of packages of services is expensive. (b) In order to ensure adequate coverage of the ... Certains font grand cas de l’intérêt qu’il y aurait au plan macroéconomique à faire davantage appel au secteur privé pour assurer la protection sociale. Les arguments présentés dans ce sens ne tiennent souvent pas la route ; cependant, on peut penser que le recours au secteur privé permettrait peut-être une meilleure efficience microéconomique et une réponse plus adaptée aux choix des consommateurs que ce que peut offrir un prestataire public en situation de monopole. A partir de quelques expériences récentes de pays de l’OCDE en matière d’offre privée pour l’assurance maladie, la garde des enfants, les soins aux personnes âgées et la retraite, trois conclusions se dégagent. Premièrement, la diversification des prestataires a souvent permis un plus grand choix et plus d’innovation. Deuxièmement, cependant, les gains d’efficience ont souvent été limités, et ceci pour un certain nombre de raisons difficiles à dissocier : (a) l’individualisation du panier de prestations est ...

JEL-codes: H11 H42 H51 H53 L33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005-03-21
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pbe
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Working Paper: Should We Extend the Role of Private Social Expenditure? (2005)
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