The effects of social and political openness on the welfare state in 18 OECD countries

Studies examining the relationship between globalisation and the welfare state tend to focus on the effects of economic dimensions of globalisation, the extent to which a country is part of the world market. Globalisation also has a social and political dimension and their effects on welfare states – in terms of social security transfers and generosity – are studied in this article. Data from the KOF Index of Globalisation, the OECD Historical Statistics and the Comparative Welfare Entitlements Dataset are used to analyze the effects of social and political openness on the welfare states of 18 OECD countries between 1970 and 2000. The analyses show that social security transfers and generosity have increased less in countries with the highest increase in social openness and that the welfare state is not affected by political openness.