Abstract
This paper is dealing with the establishment of a public pension system in China that has the potential to extent its coverage to the large majority of the Chinese population and constitutes a break with the legacy of selective, work-unit based pension system that neglected the rural population at large. Next to the rural-urban segregation the Chinese social security system has traditionally been characterized by additional lines of fragmentation such as localities and industrial sectors. Public pensions are one of the key welfare programs in China and elsewhere and a perfect
object for studying the general phenomenon we are interested in. How can the extension of the boundaries of the welfare domain be explained? Applying an explorative case study design building on the insights of the advocacy coalitions’ framework, the process leading to the establishment of a public pension system in the time from 1991 – 2012 has been studied. The insights from three case
studies show how transformations related to the transition to a socialist market economy in China have provided the broad context for pension reforms in which different actor coalitions advocate their preferred pension models. The opposing coalitions are formed of different factions on the central government level who find supporters on local government level, different sectors and academia. Under these conditions the underachievement of the goal to establish a public pension
system in the 1990s and early 2000s is less a result of local opposition alone but rather a combination of disagreement on the design of the pension system on central level combined with restricted financial means. Starting in the early 2000s the new development paradigm and the tool of state re-organization were applied by the new leadership of the Communist Party of China to overcoming factional disputes and improving the steering capacity of the central government in
order to establish a public pension system.
object for studying the general phenomenon we are interested in. How can the extension of the boundaries of the welfare domain be explained? Applying an explorative case study design building on the insights of the advocacy coalitions’ framework, the process leading to the establishment of a public pension system in the time from 1991 – 2012 has been studied. The insights from three case
studies show how transformations related to the transition to a socialist market economy in China have provided the broad context for pension reforms in which different actor coalitions advocate their preferred pension models. The opposing coalitions are formed of different factions on the central government level who find supporters on local government level, different sectors and academia. Under these conditions the underachievement of the goal to establish a public pension
system in the 1990s and early 2000s is less a result of local opposition alone but rather a combination of disagreement on the design of the pension system on central level combined with restricted financial means. Starting in the early 2000s the new development paradigm and the tool of state re-organization were applied by the new leadership of the Communist Party of China to overcoming factional disputes and improving the steering capacity of the central government in
order to establish a public pension system.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - 2013 |
| Event | Association of Asian Studies (AAS) 2013 Conference, San Diego - Duration: 21 Mar 2013 → 24 Mar 2013 |
Conference
| Conference | Association of Asian Studies (AAS) 2013 Conference, San Diego |
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| Period | 21/03/13 → 24/03/13 |