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When voters favour the social investment welfare state

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2021

Marc Brazzill Open the ORCID record for Marc Brazzill [Opens in a new window] ,
Hideko Magara  and
Yuki Yanai Open the ORCID record for Yuki Yanai [Opens in a new window]
Marc Brazzill
Affiliation:
Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Hideko Magara
Affiliation:
Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Yuki Yanai*
Affiliation:
School of Economics & Management, Kochi University of Technology, Kochi, Japan Graduate School of Law, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: yanai.yuki@kochi-tech.ac.jp
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Abstract

We investigate when voters favour social investment. Welfare states have transformed their core policies as a result of low economic growth and fiscal pressures. The social investment strategy, such as broader education provision and promotion of women's employment, aims at shifting the economy from the traditional Keynesian welfare state to the high-productivity economy by encouraging long-term and inclusive human capital formation. Social investment is popular among citizens in many developed economies, especially in the EU where governments promote social investment as part of their welfare policy packages. However, in Japan, the term ‘social investment’ is rarely used in policy discussions. Consequently, we ask what levels of voter support social investment policies have in such an environment; which voter characteristics are associated with social investment support; and whether voter support for social investment differs when placed in a broader policy context. To answer these questions, we conducted an online survey with a conjoint experiment. Our data analysis shows that social investment policies are popular among Japanese people, despite a lack of familiarity with the concept of social investment. We find that social libertarians and female respondents are more likely than social authoritarians and male respondents to support social investment. In addition, there is some evidence that higher income voters are favourable to social investment policies. Furthermore, voter support for social investment depends on the policy context. Support becomes weaker when social investment policies are presented in combination with decreasing levels of social security spending. Our results highlight what kinds of social investment policies could be achieved without damaging electoral fortunes.

Keywords

Japansocial investmentvoter attitudes
Type
Research Note
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , December 2020 , pp. 194 - 205
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/5NC2AV
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