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Welfare states and environmental states: a comparative analysis

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  • Gough, Ian

Abstract

A framework is presented for thinking about state intervention in developed capitalist economies in two domains: social policy and environmental policy (and, within that, climate-change policy). Five drivers of welfare state development are identified, the ‘five Is’ of Industrialisation: Interests, Institutions, Ideas/Ideologies, and International Influences. Research applying this framework to the postwar development of welfare states in the OECD is summarised, distinguishing two periods: up to 1980, and from 1980 to 2008. How far this framework can contribute to understanding the rise and differential patterns of environmental governance and intervention across advanced capitalist states since 1970 is explored, before briefly comparing and contrasting the determinants of welfare states and environmental states, identifying common drivers in both domains and regime-specific drivers in each. The same framework is then applied to developments since 2008 and into the near future, sketching two potential configurations and speculating on the conditions for closer, more integrated ‘eco-welfare states’.

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  • Gough, Ian, 2016. "Welfare states and environmental states: a comparative analysis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 63153, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:63153
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/63153/
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Matteo Mandelli, 2022. "Understanding eco-social policies: a proposed definition and typology," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(3), pages 333-348, August.
    2. Niklas Jakobsson & Raya Muttarak & Mi Ah Schoyen, 2018. "Dividing the pie in the eco-social state: Exploring the relationship between public support for environmental and welfare policies," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(2), pages 313-339, March.
    3. Matt Wilder & Ruth Rosalle & Alyssa Bishop, 2024. "Eco-welfare States and Just Transitions: A Multi-method Analysis and Research Agenda," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 2241-2265, September.
    4. Béla Galgóczi, 2022. "From a ‘just transition for us’ to a ‘just transition for all’," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(3), pages 349-366, August.
    5. Taewook Huh & Yun Young Kim, 2021. "Triangular Trajectory of Sustainable Development: Panel Analysis of the OECD Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-16, March.
    6. Julien Salama, 2023. "Financing the post-growth state," Post-Print hal-04280023, HAL.
    7. Tuuli Hirvilammi, 2020. "The Virtuous Circle of Sustainable Welfare as a Transformative Policy Idea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, January.
    8. Corlet Walker, Christine & Druckman, Angela & Jackson, Tim, 2021. "Welfare systems without economic growth: A review of the challenges and next steps for the field," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    9. Karen Bell, 2017. "‘Living Well’ as a Path to Social, Ecological and Economic Sustainability," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 2(4), pages 19-33.
    10. Scott Y. Lin, 2021. "Bringing resource management back into the environmental governance agenda: eco-state restructuring in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(8), pages 12272-12301, August.
    11. García-García, Pablo & Buendía, Luis & Carpintero, Óscar, 2022. "Welfare regimes as enablers of just energy transitions: Revisiting and testing the hypothesis of synergy for Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    12. Tuuli Hirvilammi & Max Koch, 2020. "Sustainable Welfare beyond Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-8, February.
    13. Taewook Huh & Yunyoung Kim & Jiyoung Hailiey Kim, 2018. "Towards a Green State: A Comparative Study on OECD Countries through Fuzzy-Set Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-17, September.
    14. Vogel, Jefim & Guerin, Gauthier & O'Neill, Daniel W. & Steinberger, Julia K., 2024. "Safeguarding livelihoods against reductions in economic output," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    15. Cahen-Fourot, Louison, 2020. "Contemporary capitalisms and their social relation to the environment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    16. Michael Jakob & William F. Lamb & Jan Christoph Steckel & Christian Flachsland & Ottmar Edenhofer, 2020. "Understanding different perspectives on economic growth and climate policy," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(6), November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    welfare state; environmental state; climate mitigation policy; social policy; comparative research;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General

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