Browsing by Subject "welfare state"
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(2021)Previous research in political economy has emphasized corporate lobbying as a pathway through which businesses influence government policy. This thesis examines a less-studied mode of influence: private regulation, defined as voluntary efforts by firms to restrain their own business, in the context of Finnish private elderly care. The thesis suggests that profits in elderly care is a particularly controversial policy issue that suffers from market repugnance, defined as a situation where there might be willing suppliers and demanders of certain transactions, but an aversion to those transactions by others restrain or even stop the transactions. Now, this thesis assert that elderly care firms can use modest private regulation as a political strategy to decrease market repugnance and in so doing preempt more stringent government regulations that could hinder profit making. To test this hypothesis, this thesis organized a survey experiment, where university students and young professionals participated. The survey experiment revealed that the subjects reacted to a private regulation initiative (PRI) by firms. When subjects were asked whether profits should be allowed in elderly care, they held more positive views towards profits after exposed to the PRI. The same dynamic also materialized when subjects evaluated whether firms should be allowed to independently determine minimum staffing requirement per elderly. Furthermore, subjects were also more trustful in the prospect that elderly care firms prioritize the health of elderly before profits, after informed with the PRI. The findings in this thesis have potentially significant societal implications particularly in the domain of private sector influence on social- and healthcare policy. Private regulation is a political strategy that firms can use to decrease demand for stringent government regulation. In addition, the results suggest that firms needn’t use a lot of resources to decrease demand for regulation. However, the results also suggest that there is a demand among the public for more socially responsible firms. Even those on the Left are ready to reward firms that display a tangible commitment to responsible conduct with greater freedoms and increased legitimacy. This could ideally nudge firms towards a more responsible and a more societally embedded conduct.
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(2013)This master’s thesis study examines the new type of public management in Finland brought about by the introduction of the ideals of new public management internationally.Specifically, the ideal of self-responsibility was examined in the Finnish context by focusing on the aftercare of short-term prisoners. The study focused on the question of how does the prevailing public management in Finland effect the situation of released short-term prisoners, and specifically, how does it affect their aftercare measures? In order to provide an answer to this, the study sought answers to three questions: 1) what problems are there in the aftercare of short-term prisoners in Finland and what are the consequences of these problems; 2) how is the aftercare of short-term prisoners divided between the government, the municipality, and the third sector and who is responsible for providing aftercare services; 3) how does the public sector responsibilitize released short-term prisoners and, if so, what kind of problems does this cause them in relation to their aftercare? This study was conducted by using a qualitative multi-sited ethnographic approach that consisted of using different sets of data. First, governmental laws and policies regarding imprisonment and social welfare were used as secondary or background data. Second, ethnographic fieldwork was undertaken at a non-profit organisation along with ethnographic interviews in order to collect valuable insight into the topic along with some first-hand experience. Third, thematic interviews with short-term prisoners, the staff of the non-profit organization, and with governmental social workers were conducted. Lastly, ethnographic observations during the thematic interviews were undertaken. The findings of this study suggest that the influences of new public management and its ideal of responsibilitization are visible in the aftercare of short-term prisoners. There seems to be a move towards necessitating short-term prisoners to take responsibility for their own matters already during their time in prison, but specifically after their release. On top of this, these individuals are expected to actively demonstrate a motivation for change in order to be entitled to receive services due to the lack of resources and a move away from a needs-based service provision. Problems to do with a decentralised service provision and the way in which short-term prisoners are not viewed as a group necessitating specialised services also lead towards the above stated situation. Crucially, the responsibility of the government or the municipality to provide services for this group of individuals is being shifted towards the third sector in a way that the third sector has become the ‘problem solver’ of the Finnish society. The lack of resources, however, that is also prevalent within the third sector has an influence on individuals in that they are expected to take on increasing amounts of responsibilities for their own aftercare. The study concludes that further research is needed in relation to the situation of the aftercare of short-term prisoners – and prisoners in general – to fully understand the way in which new public management and its ideals affect this issue and how the welfare renewals recently suggested by the government influence the situation of this marginal and problematic group of the population.
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(2011)This study seeks to comparatively analyse how well-being is distributed across the social structure in European welfare regimes. Welfare regime refers to a group of countries having a relatively similar orientation and culture regarding social policy. Well-being is interpreted and operationalised as a multidimensional concept. More concretely, well-being is approached in terms of the traditional core areas of welfare and social policy (indicators: economic hardship, sickness) but a special emphasis is piaced upon social aspects of life (indicators: social relations, social contribution, local ties, recognition and societal pessimism). The perspective of vulnerable social positions (unemployment, poverty, immigration background etc.) is chosen in all the analyses. The data set of the European Social Survey (round 3, 2006/2007) is used in the study since it includes an extensive module on well-being, which enables convenient and fruitful analytical paths. Multilevel analysis is chosen as the key method for the study due to its ability to handle data that involve grouped observations (e.g. individuals in countries) and research questions that are of multilevel nature themselves. The overall methodological idea is to start from general and broad descriptions and move towards a narrower and more specific focus. Four indicators are chosen for the in-depth analysis: economic hardship, sickness, societal pessimism and recognition. The results mostly corroborate the view that well-being is to a significant extent conditioned by the position one occupies in the social structure and also by the welfare regime one lives in. How life chances are distributed across the social structure varies between the country groups due to their different approaches to welfare policy. The Eastern European country group is generally characterised by relatively frequent ill-being — lack of well-being — on almost all dimensions included in the analysis. Economic hardship is conspicuousiy prevalent in these nations, especially among the unemployed. In fact, unemployment is a major risk factor for economic hardship in all regimes. The Nordic regime is distinguished by low rates of ill-being in virtually all dimensions, but the relatively high sickness rate is an exception: poverty in particular exposes to sickness in the Nordic world of welfare. The link between vulnerability and societal pessimism is rather typical for both the Eastern European and Continental European regimes. Poverty makes future views bleaker in almost ali country groups, whereas immigrants are generally less pessimistic. However, in the Nordic regime immigration background seems to be an adverse factor with respect to well-being. Poverty, unemployment and oneliness are associated to low recognition, whereas old age seems to be related to more respectful treatment. Living in the liberal welfare regime and being poor or unemployed is the combination that most severely exposes its occupant to the demoralising expetiences of low recognition. In other words, the moral flavour of everyday life in a vulnerable social position differs by country groups. Welfare regimes are more than just systems of benefit allocation and service production - also culture matters.
Now showing items 1-3 of 3