Conditions Leading to the Development of the Post-Socialist Welfare States
Conditions Leading to the Development of the Post-Socialist Welfare States

Summary/Abstract: This study examines the conditions that explain the development of post-socialist welfare states. We investigated whether theories explaining the development of the Western welfare states applied to post-socialist countries and explored the unique features of the post-socialist welfare states. Methodologically, we use a Fuzzy-set Multiple Conjunctural Causation Analysis to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions for the expansion of social expenditure of 22 post-socialist countries from 2009 to 2011, considering that a single factor does not determine the development of the welfare states, but it can be explained in different ways using a combination of factors. The results found that economic growth, progress in democracy, and population aging—which explain the development of the Western welfare states—explain the expansion of social expenditure in post-socialist countries. However, even in a country with economic growth and democratization, the development of welfare states is slow when the socialist system is maintained for a long time.

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