본문 바로가기
  • Home

Determinants of Social Welfare Expenditure in Local Government: A Focus on Political Factors of Metropolitan Government in Korea

  • Korean Society and Public Administration
  • Abbr : KSPA
  • 2015, 25(4), pp.137-159
  • Publisher : Seoul Association For Public Administration
  • Research Area : Social Science > Public Administration

Moon, Soo-Jin 1 Jong-Youl Lee 2

1인천대학교 연구원
2인천대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study elicited the factors influencing social welfare expenditures, specifically targeting metropolitan governments. It utilized five years of data (2008 to 2012) focusing on 74 metropolitan governments, examining the weight of social welfare expenditures out of total expenditures. To grasp the influence of the determinants of social welfare expenditures, a random-effects GLS regression was estimated using STATA. The Findings of the research follow: first, in political factors, social welfare expenditures grew in an election year, in the year after an election, and when the majority party in the basic local assembly is progressive. In the case of a local election year and the year after, many candidates and self-government directors could be keeping pledges related to social welfare for votes. A progressive majority party, unlike conservatives, also pursues local development with an interest in social change. Second, in case of social and demographic variables, the proportion of disabled was found to be statistically significant. The local government can be judged to be doing more diverse projects than the central government in case of the disabled who need customized service. It was found that social welfare expenditures grew more with larger populations so the population was confirmed to have an influence on expenditures. Third, looking at financial factors, a case of welfare-expenditure percentage change based on incrementalism was determined to influence social welfare expenditure. This may imply a plan based on the budget of the previous year without reflecting the characteristics of social welfare spending. Per capita tax burden is negatively related to social welfare expenditure, which means decline of welfare demand is greater than the supply side of budget increase.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.