The Independent Variable Problem: Welfare Stateness as an Explanatory Concept

Description

This open access publication deals with the operationalisation of the welfare state as an independent variable. To study how welfare states affect social inequality, individual behaviour, attitudes and more in different countries, an empirical operationalisation of the welfare state or specific elements of social policy is required. However, this operationalisation is fraught with some important problems. These problems essentially relate to one point: while there are a large number of contributions dealing with the measurement of differences between welfare states per se and as a dependent variable, there is a lack of feasible recommendations for a standardised operationalisation of welfare stateness as an independent variable. So far, there has been no systematic investigation of how such different approaches may affect the results and their comparability. Also missing is an in-depth conceptual discussion of which features of the welfare state are particularly relevant for explaining certain effects. This book fills both gaps. First, it exposes the pitfalls of existing approaches and shows how much empirical results can vary depending on the operationalisation chosen. Second, it proposes a framework for a standardised conceptualisation and operationalisation of social policies as independent variables that constrains operational decisions in a theoretically meaningful way. Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction 1.1 Aim of the Study and Research Questions 1.2 Remarks on the Analytical Perspective 1.3 Structure of the Book 2 Premises: Perspectives on the Welfare State 2.1 A Short History of Welfare State Research 2.1.1 First Phase: Exploration and Description 2.1.2 Second Phase: Similarities and Classifications 2.1.3 Third Phase: New Risks and Retrenchment 2.1.4 Summary: Influential Debates 2.2 Functions of Welfare States 2.2.1 Security: the Welfare State as a Safety Net 2.2.2 Redistribution: Robin Hood, Piggy Bank and More 2.2.3 Social Stratification: the Welfare State and Social Inequality 2.2.4 Activation: an Enabling and Incentivising Institution 2.2.5 Socialisation: the Welfare State, Endogenous Norms and Values 2.2.6 Summary: Functions and Variations of Welfare States 2.3 From Dependent to Independent Variable 3 The Welfare State as an Independent Variable: Debates, Pitfalls, Potentials 3.1 Approaches and Debates 3.1.1 The Single Indicator Approach 3.1.2 The Regime Typology Approach 3.1.3 The Composite Index Approach 3.2 An Empirical Confrontation 3.2.1 Data, Operationalisation and Method 3.2.2 Results and Interpretation 3.3 Summary: an Independent Variable Problem 4 Literature Review: Mechanisms and Hypotheses 4.1 The Mechanisms Matter: a Short Introduction 4.2 Summary of Popular Hypotheses 4.2.1 The Impact of the Welfare State on Well-Being 4.2.2 The Impact of the Welfare State on Risks and Needs 4.2.3 The Impact of the Welfare State on Attitudes 4.2.4 The Impact of the Welfare State on Behaviour 4.3 Summary: Analytical Perspectives and Mechanisms 5 Welfare Stateness as an Explanatory Concept 5.1 From Background Concept to Systematised Concepts 5.2 Indicators and Scores for Cases: Criteria and Measurement Validity 5.2.1 Criteria for the Selection of Indicators 5.2.2 Determining Measurement Validity 5.3 Measurement of the Systematised Concepts 5.3.1 The Responsive Welfare State 5.3.2 The Enabling Welfare State 5.3.3 The Normative Welfare State 5.3.4 The Assessed Welfare State 5.4 Data Sources 5.5 Discussion 6 Welfare Stateness as an Explanatory Variable: Empirical Illustration 6.1 Remarks on the Following Analyses 6.1.1 Data Sources for Individual-Level Survey Data 6.1.2 Data Sources for Macro-Level Data and Country Sample 6.1.3 Indicators of Welfare Stateness 6.2 The Welfare State and the Risk of Poverty 6.2.1 Conceptualisation of the Welfare State 6.2.2 Operationalisation of the Welfare State 6.2.3 Additional Variables and Analytical Strategy 6.2.4 Results of Bi- and Multivariate Analyses 6.2.5 Summary and Discussion 6.3 The Welfare State and Welfare State Attitudes 6.3.1 Conceptualisation of the Welfare State 6.3.2 Operationalisation of the Welfare State 6.3.3 Additional Variables and Analytical Strategy 6.3.4 Results of Bi- and Multivariate Analyses 6.3.5 Summary and Discussion 6.4 Concluding Remarks 7 Towards Solving the Independent Variable Problem 7.1 Summary and Main Findings 7.2 Implications for Further Research References