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A Comparative Study on the Characteristics of Service Provision Agents in Social Care Service

  • Korean Society and Public Administration
  • Abbr : KSPA
  • 2014, 25(1), pp.169-195
  • Publisher : Seoul Association For Public Administration
  • Research Area : Social Science > Public Administration

Kim, Eunjeong 1

1부경대학교 행정학과

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study aims to understand the major trends and current characteristics of service provision agents in the field of social care, focusing on in-home care services for adults in Sweden, the UK, the US, and Japan. Investigating the welfare mix (i.e., degree of welfare pluralism) reveals the growing role of the private sector (including both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations) to be the most representative change in the social service field. This trend is related in complex ways to discussions about the provision of public finance and management of service quality. Based on the analysis, this study identifies three main types of welfare pluralism. First, in the countries where the public sector has traditionally played an important role in providing services, the public sector has reduced its direct provision role and increased its role as a purchaser of services (privatization). In addition, the public sector has increasingly purchased services from for-profit organizations (commercialization) or made direct payments from public finances to users. In this type, privatization occurred first before commercialization progressed. In the second type of welfare pluralism, both privatization and commercialization have been pursued almost concurrently. The US is included in this type due to the prevalence of market systems, even in publicly funded social care. In the third type, the role of the private sector, especially not-for-profit organizations, has been traditionally strong while that of the public sector was consistently weak, as in many Asian countries.

Citation status

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