Culture, state and varieties of capitalism: a comparative study of life insurance markets in Hong Kong and Taiwan

This article examines the interplay between local culture, the state, and economic actors' agency in producing variation across markets. I adopt a political-cultural approach to examining why life insurance has been far more popular in Taiwan than Hong Kong, despite the presence of a cultural taboo on the topic of premature death in both societies. Based on interview data and documentary references, the findings reveal that as an independent state, the Taiwanese government heavily protected domestic insurance firms during their emergence. These domestic firms adopted a market-share approach by re-defining the concept of life insurance to accommodate the local cultural taboo. The colonial Hong Kong government, on the other hand, adopted laissez-faire policies that essentially favoured foreign insurance firms. When faced with the tension between local adaptation and the profitability of the business, these foreign firms chose the latter. Their reluctance to accommodate local cultures, however, resulted in a smaller market. I argue that state actions mediate who the dominant economic players are and that the nature of the dominant players affects the extent of localization. Specifically, the presence of competitive domestic players alongside transnational corporations is more likely to produce varieties of capitalism.     

Inequality in Social Insurance Participation and Generosity: Do Firm Characteristics Matter?

Income inequality in China has been much documented and debated. However, one important aspect of income inequality – social insurance inequality – has been largely understudied. We use a large national panel of firm data to examine the possible influence of various firm characteristics on the inequalities in social insurance participation and generosity in the period 2004–07. Our findings reveal substantial ownership sector and regional gaps in social insurance provision by firms, with the private domestic sector and those in the central region lagging behind. Unionized firms, larger firms, and firms with greater market shares also tend to provide better social insurance to their employees. While being an exporting firm is linked with greater social insurance participation and generosity, being a purely exporting firm, however, is associated with reduced social insurance generosity. Lastly, highly educated workers receive substantially better social insurance coverage than their less educated peers. These social insurance inequalities are highly relevant as China pushes forward with establishing a unified social insurance system across urban‐rural boundaries, ownership sectors and industries.     

人口老龄化阶段我国农村养老保险的机制创新

人口老龄化是当前全球人口结构发展的基本趋势。面对人口老龄化带来的各种挑战,加快建立和完善我国农特养老保险制度是一项紧迫的任务。廓清我国农村养老保险制度的困境及其成因与变迁,分析其中存在的问题,是推进农村养老保险制度改革的重要内容。从我国农村人口老龄化的趋势和农村经济发展的实际出发,通过机制创新,建立农村养老保险制度创新机制,是完善农村养老保险的关键所在。     

保险代位求偿权行使的相关限制

保险代位求偿权是保险法中的一项专门制度,具有自身独特的地位、特征与功能,在保险实务中的行使很普遍,但保险代位求偿权在行使上有相应的限制。由此,就保险代位求偿权在适用范围、第三人、时效等方面的行使限制情形作探讨分析。     

河北省农业保险的现状与风险分散机制

针对2008年河北省出台的农业保险的政策以及河北省的农业保险的实际情况,通过分析现状发现存在开展农业保险的公司高度集中、赔付率比较高;农户保险意识淡薄、投保能力不足;政府扶持农业保险的效率低,配套措施未到位等问题。结合我国农业保险开展的实际和河北省的情况提出从农业保险立法、扶持的财政和税收政策的加强、多层次风险分散体系建立以及大力发展互助性质的农业保险互助社等措施来完善河北省农业保险的风险分散机制。     

金融危机背景下大龄返乡农民工养老保障模式与政策支撑

金融危机对我国中小型企业产生了巨大影响,企业的经营困难造成了一大批失业返乡的农民工,而其中的大龄农民工面临着更为严峻的困境。如何解决他们养老保障问题成为当今社会关注的热点。对现实生活中大龄返乡农民工养老面临的四大困境分析表明,从国家养老保障政策的支持、社会养老关系网络的构建、充分发挥受保主体的自保能力三个层面来构建金融危机后大龄返乡农民工养老保障的模式．具有一定的现实意义和价值。     

我国新型农村养老保险制度的SWOT分析

文章从新农保的“新”字入题,试图借鉴管理学SWOT研究分析方法,从我国当前新型农村养老保险制度发展所面临的发展机遇、环境挑战、自身优势以及存在的问题四个方面内容展开探讨,并在此基础之上,从优化制度运行环境与制度自身完善两个方面对如何推动“新农保”制度建设提出了对策和建议。     

Geographic labour mobility and unemployment insurance in Europe

Conventional wisdom suggests that the generous provision of UI in Europe can account for the low regional mobility rates. Emphasizing the disincentive effect, this hypothesis ignores that UI might also have a positive effect by relaxing liquidity constraints in the presence of mobility and search costs. This paper investigates empirically the effect of UI on geographic labour mobility for five European countries. Overall, the findings suggest that receiving benefits is not associated with lower mobility, and they indicate that the effects might vary depending on the institutional characteristics and the incentive structure of the UI system of each country.      

透析实施生育保险制度的局势

从社会学视角对实施生育保险制度的必要性进行探讨,分别从宏观(包括人口转变规律、经济体制改革、提高人口素质的需求三个方面)、中观(包括社会支持网络的变迁、保障女性群体地位、保障企业平等竞争三个方面)和微观层面(包括生育观念的转变、生育的风险性、体现女性的生育价值三个方面)进行层层剖析,说明实施和拓宽生育保险制度势在必行。