Cross Sectional and Longitudinal Models of 1977 National Social Insurance Expenditures

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This article partially replicates Cutright's (1967) analysis of determinants of cross-national differences in 1960 social insurance expenditures. Analyses of national differences in 1977 finds that a proxy for Cutright's theoretical construct of an egalitarian political system does not influence social insurance expenditures in the low GNP/per capita (GNP/C) stratum, but it is an important variable in analyses the high GNP/C stratum. This proxy is also significant in analysis of 1965 to 1977 increases in expenditures in high GNP/C countries. The percentage of the labor force in industry, an indicator of the control of the population over its environment and its vulnerability to economic change was a significant predictor in the high GNP/C stratum in 1977, but was unimportant among lower GNP/C nations. The experience and power of the social insurance bureaucracy and its constituency as indexed by the years of program experience (SIPE) was significant in analysis of 1977 expenditures in both high and low GNP/C stratum. SIPE was also significant in explaining 1965–1977 changes in expenditures within each stratum.