Re-thinking the Incrementalist Thesis in China: A Reflection on the Development of the Minimum Standard of Living Scheme in Urban and Rural Areas

Abstract

Many commentators contend that the Chinese government adopted an incremental approach to welfare policy reform because its leaders lacked an overall blueprint for it, allowing initiatives to be implemented only after lengthy experimentation. While this perspective has provided an essential account of the implementation and changes of some welfare programmes, it has inadequately addressed the slow progress in rural areas' welfare programmes and the different welfare entitlements for rural and urban residents. Further investigation is therefore required to resolve these anomalies. Using the minimum standard of living scheme (MSLS) as a case example, this article illustrates how the Chinese government's legitimacy needs during different stages of its economic reforms have been the principal motivation for the implementation of such schemes. The introduction of an urban MSLS in 1997 aimed to reduce laid-off workers' dissatisfaction following the government's reforms of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The implementation of a rural MSLS in 2007 principally intended to minimise conflicts between land-losing farmers and local officials after widespread rural riots. These MSLSs are also minimal and stigmatising public-assistance schemes that fulfil the dual objective of securing a stable political 2 environment for economic reform and maintaining poor people's work ethic for China's mixed economy.

Poverty Reduction in Urban China: The Impact of Cash Transfers

“…Notwithstanding the government's hesitation, the Dibao program gradually transformed into a core component of the Chinese government's long-term poverty alleviation strategy (Ngok, 2010;Chan, 2010).…”

Social Protection in Rural China: Recent Developments and Prospects

“…This expansion was largely due to increasing subsidies by the central government, which rose to about 34 billion yuan, or by 55.2% over the previous year (Ministry of Civil Affairs, 2010). A significant factor in the decision to increase subsidies in order to expand the program was to reduce poverty but also to alleviate conflict between local officials and farmers and compensate those peasants who lost their farmland (Chan, 2010) because of expropriation for development.…”

‘Moderate universalism’ in China and the Nordic countries: Reviewing the major challenges in unemployment protection

“…The social-policy response to this has been the introduction of both unemployment insurance and social assistance, and there is by now a relatively rich English literature on the development and challenges of these new schemes (for example Liu & Kongshøj, 2014;Ngok, 2013;Gao, 2013;Lei, 2012;Chan, 2010;Duckett & Carillo, 2008). This literature will also be drawn on later in this article.…”