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The welfare state refers to a concept of a state that focuses on ensuring that a broad range of social rights is provided for all citizens by acting on the social mechanisms and consequences of the market economy. In such a state government plays a vital role in balancing social inequalities by providing or subsidizing social benefits and services. This activity is called social policy. Individual countries are characterized by different welfare state models, goals, values, and groups of beneficiaries. Such a state usually supports a recovery from the difficult situation of the population, which is not, itself, able to take care of their basic needs.

The welfare state refers to a concept of a state that focuses on ensuring that a broad range of social rights is provided for all citizens by acting on the social mechanisms and consequences of the market economy. In such a state government plays a vital role in balancing social inequalities by providing or subsidizing social benefits and services. This activity is called social policy. Individual countries are characterized by different welfare state models, goals, values, and groups of beneficiaries. Such a state usually supports a recovery from the difficult situation of the population, which is not, itself, able to take care of their basic needs.

Abstract. The article draws upon the main results of the Report on Welfare State 2019 edited by the Author. The first part analyses occupational welfare which involves the following aspects: the historical context of the most comprehensive state-market relations in which it developed; the reasons and the economic and social effects of the spread of occupational welfare; the areas of intervention and the dimensions it has assumed in various countries and in Italy; the connections with the welfare state; the links with employer-trade union relationships, productivity trends, decentralized wage bargaining and wage trends; and the effects on inequalities in access to social goods and services. The following two sections examine the social and economic policies implemented in Europe and Italy, and the quantitative and qualitative dynamics of expenditure. In particular, we explore: trends and policies regarding: the labor market; demographic and migration trends; education and healthcare; social safety networks; inequalities; the policies aimed at reducing poverty; and the basic guaranteed citizens' income (reddito di cittadinanza) a measure recently introduced in Italy. Finally, the analysis focuses on the measures adopted by the Italian Government in relation to the pension system, as well as the forecasts, problems and recommendations concerning public and private systems.

The article draws upon the main results of the Report on Welfare State 2019 edited by the Author. The first part analyses occupational welfare which involves the following aspects: the historical context of the most comprehensive state-market relations in which it developed; the reasons and the economic and social effects of the spread of occupational welfare; the areas of intervention and the dimensions it has assumed in various countries and in Italy; the connections with the welfare state; the links with employer-trade union relationships, productivity trends, decentralized wage bargaining and wage trends; and the effects on inequalities in access to social goods and services. The following two sections examine the social and economic policies implemented in Europe and Italy, and the quantitative and qualitative dynamics of expenditure. In particular, we explore: trends and policies regarding: the labor market; demographic and migration trends; education and healthcare; social safety networks; inequalities; the policies aimed at reducing poverty; and the basic guaranteed citizens' income (reddito di cittadinanza) a measure recently introduced in Italy. Finally, the analysis focuses on the measures adopted by the Italian Government in relation to the pension system, as well as the forecasts, problems and recommendations concerning public and private systems.

This report collects and draws conclusions from research papers of Area 1. It summarises the results against the background of the existing literature, focusing in particular on the challenges arising on welfare states from globalisation, post-industrialisation, and demographic changes. The report also discusses problems of the political economy of policy reform and large-scale economic and social transitions.

This paper deals with economic incentives and welfare-state arrangements in OECD countries; it also offers some lessons for would-be welfare states. These arrangements differ, of course, among OECD countries. In particular, there is wide variation in the extent to which countries rely on four basic institutions - the state, the firm, the family and the market. Countries also differ in their reliance on (i) a common safety net, often in the form of flat-rate benefits tied to specific contingencies; (ii) means-tested benefits for low-income groups; and (iii) income protection, i.e., benefits that are tied to previous income. Another distinction between corporatist welfare states, where benefits are tied to labor contracts, and universal welfare states in which benefits are conditional on residence or citizenship. This distinction is blurred, however, by recent tendencies in corporatist welfare states to extend coverage to individuals who have very weak attachment to the labor market, and in universal welfare states to tie benefits to previous or contemporary work under the slogan "workfare" rather than "welfare".The degree of generosity of benefits is another important distinction. Of course, the lower the benefit levels, the stronger the incentives for citizens to opt for voluntary (market) solutions, in the form of private saving and private insurance arrangements.When considering incentive problems in connection with various types of welfare-state arrangements, this paper emphasizes what may be called "dynamic" issues, i.e., incentive effects that evolve over time. These also include endogenous changes in social norms among individuals and endogenous adjustments in political behavior. This approach also makes it necessary to broaden the analysis to fields outside conventionally defined "economic analysis".

This is a book chapter published in Bull, J. (ed.) British Theatre Companies: From Fringe to Mainstream 1965-1979. The final version can be found here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/british-theatre-companies-1965-1979-9781408175439/ ; This peer-reviewed essay on the work of Welfare State International (WSI) was commissioned by Professor John Bull (University of Reading) to carry out new primary research for a case-study published as part of a three-volume re-evaluation of alternative/experimental theatre companies, British Theatre Companies: from Fringe to Mainstream. The three-volume study brings together new scholarly research on key influential British theatre companies (for many of which there are few published sources) and is expected to become the essential resource in this field for other scholars and researchers. My chapter, based on extensive archive research and interviews with former participants, situates the company's forty years' history within the context of recent communitarian, collaborative and participative discourses, which have emerged as key critical debates since the 1990s. I was approached as an expert in the field and commissioned due to my standing and previous work on the company which includes various conference papers and published essays. Utilising primary source, public and private archive/papers (eg extensive WSI papers and John Fox/Sue Gill archive at Theatre Collection, University of Bristol, Arts Council archive papers etc) interviews and communications with WSI founders, members and participants, it builds on previous extensive research and curatorial projects on WSI, eg I curated a research-based retrospective exhibition in 2007 at MidPennine Gallery Burnley (supported by Henry Moore Foundation funds) and have presented material related to WSI in papers at various conferences, eg Portsmouth Visual Culture conference 2009 and College Art Association, Chicago 2010 and have published a book chapter on WSI, radical politics and New Age culture in a book on 1970s culture.

In recent decades, so-called universal welfare states have experienced considerable immigration from non-Western countries and, accordingly, rising levels of ethnic diversity. On that basis, scholars have debated how ethnic diversity affects public opinion in recipient societies. The debate is to a significant extent shaped by studies of American public opinion, where public opinion on some issues is widely considered 'racialized', i.e. in part based on attitudes toward racial outgroups. The dissertation examines whether by the same token, political attitudes in universal welfare states can become 'ethnicized', i.e. in part based on attitudes toward ethnic outgroups. The existing literature has tended to focus on the issue of welfare, where the expectation is that ethnic diversity will diminish public support. I outline a theoretical framework which explains why political attitudes can be ethnicized, but also why it is more likely for some issues (such as European integration or crime) than others (such as welfare). The dissertation includes four stand-alone articles illustrating the influence of group identities in political cognition. Compared to the existing literature, they suggest that ethnicization is at once more limited (in that it is unlikely for the most widely discussed issue, welfare) and more pervasive (in that it can arise from local contexts as well as from media). Ethnicization of attitudes is one way in which immigration can influence political life, even when the political agenda ostensibly revolves around something else.

Why have some countries have been more successful in welfare state reform than others? This book examines the experiences of various countries in reforming their welfare states through renegotiations between the state and peak associations of employers and employees. This corporatist concertation has been blamed for bringing about all the ills of the welfare state, but lately corporate institutions have learned from their bad performances, modified their structures and style of operation, and assumed responsibility for welfare state reform. Consensual bargaining is back on the agenda of both policy makers and of social science. This topical volume with its internationally respected panel of contributors will appeal to all those interested in the welfare state and labour relations. It includes chapters focusing on the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland as well as a section looking at the role of corporatist concertation in the European Union.

The welfare state is not merely a stand-in for missing markets; it can do a whole lot more. When generations overlap and the young must borrow to make educational investments, a dynamically-efficient welfare state, by taxing the middle-aged and offering a compensatory old-age pension, can generate higher long-run human capital and welfare compared to laissez faire. Along the transition, no generation is hurt and some are better off. If an intergenerational human capital externality is present, unfunded pensions can be gradually phased out entirely. Public pension reform can be rationalized on efficiency grounds without relying on political-economy concerns or aging.

European welfare states face serious financial difficulties caused by persistent high levels of unemployment and demographic ageing. Serious organisational problems are accompanied by inefficiency. Fiercer international competition and closer European integration put pressure on social policy in the EU member states, and creates competition between national welfare states. Sustainable European welfare states in general and maintainable social security systems in particular require fundamental reform. In this paper a plan for a common EU-wide safety-net is presented. The current proposal differs considerably from previous proposals involving the establishment of a basic income, wage subsidies, an earned income tax credit or workfare. Simulations show that the proposal is both effective and efficient.

The expansion of welfare-state arrangements is seen as the result of dynamic interaction between market behaviour and political behaviour, often with considerable time lags, sometimes generating either virtuous or vicious circles. Such interaction may also involve induced (endogenous) changes in social norms and political preferences. Moreover, the internationalisation process not only limits the ability of national governments to redistribute income; they also increase the political demands for international mobility of welfare-state benefits and social services. I also discuss the dynamics of reforms and retreats of welfare-state arrangements.

The expansion of welfare-state arrangements is seen as the result of dynamic interaction between market behaviour and political behaviour, often with considerable time lags, sometimes generating either virtuous or vicious circles. Such interaction may also involve induced (endogenous) changes in social norms and political preferences. Moreover, the internationalization process not only limits the ability of national governments to redistribute income; they also increase the political demands for international mobility of welfare-state benefits and social services. I also discuss the dynamics of reforms and retreats of welfare-state arrangements.

The undeniable fact is that various social sciences and other disciplines constitute the research perspective which relates to the practice of a multidimensional phenomenon. The welfare state is an excellent example of such notion, which in its nature unifies many theoretical and practical positions. It seems, however, that the economic and political dimensions of the welfare state (as conceptual or pro-social proposals) are disproportionately exposed both on the basis of scientific reflection and pragmatic approaches used by the institutions of the state. This tendency to think in economic and political terms, which incidentally is maintained for several decades, represents: (a) only one side of a complex nature of social welfare, and (b) a significant reductionism, leading to the elimination of sociological, cultural, educational, and psychological consequences of the functioning of the welfare state. This article is designed to reverse the trend of the dominant perception of the construct of the welfare state in economic and political terms, and replace it with the highlight of the mainly sociological dimension of this phenomenon (the welfare state sociology). However, it does not mean abandonment of the economic and political dimensions in general, as they are an integral part of the issue. ; Mariusz Baranowski

It is useful to distinguish between exogenous and endogenous factors behind contemporary and expected future problems for the welfare state. This paper tries to identify major problems of both types and to indicate alternative reform possibilities to deal with them. At the same time as several governments struggle with such reforms, new demands on the welfare state emerge. Although the basic structure of today's welfare-state arrangements certainly can be kept, the reforms required are sufficiently large to create considerable conflicts across interest groups.