Book
Social Security in Developing Countries

The term "social security" has a very different meaning in underdeveloped countries -- whose populations live in great insecurity -- and is best understood as poverty alleviation. This book attempts to define social security in the Third World and to examine what sort of programs are most suitable for developing countries. The authors review current literature on the subject. Some chapters explore broad themes, others contain case studies describing social security provisions in various regions of Asia, Latin America, and Southern Africa. This illuminating study will be of interest to development economists as well as those working in international organizations concerned with policy-making in the Third World and management of resources. The authors aim to put the subject of social security firmly on the agenda of development economic research with a view to stimulating further research in this area.

This peer-reviewed research is available free of charge. UNU-WIDER believes that research is a global public good and supports Open Access.

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Editor

Ehtisham Ahmad

Jean Drèze

John Hills

Amartya Sen

Details

February 1991

Clarendon Press Oxford,

© UNU-WIDER

Region

Asia

Latin America & Caribbean

Southern Africa

Table of contents
  1. Part I: General Issues
    1. Public Action for Social Security: Foundations and Strategy
    Jean Drèze, Amartya Sen
  2. Part I: General Issues
    2. Social Security in Developing Countries: What, Why, Who, and How?
    Robin Burgess, Nicholas Stern
  3. Part I: General Issues
    3. Social Security in Developed Countries: Are There Lessons for Developing Countries?
    Anthony Barnes Atkinson, John Hills
  4. Part I: General Issues
    4. Traditional Systems of Social Security and Hunger Insurance: Past Achievements and Modern Challenges
    Jean-Philippe Platteau
  5. Part I: General Issues
    5. Social Security and the Family: Coping with Seasonality and Calamity in Rural India
    Bina Agarwal
  6. Part II: Case Studies
    6. Social Security in China: A Historical Perspective
    Ehtisham Ahmad, Athar Hussain
  7. Part II: Case Studies
    7. Social Security in South Asia
    S. R. Osmani
    More Working Paper | Social Security in South Asia
  8. Part II: Case Studies
    8. Social Security in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Comparative Assessment
    Carmelo Mesa-Lago
  9. Part II: Case Studies
    9. Social Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: Reflections on Policy Challenges
    Joachim von Braun
  10. Part II: Case Studies
    10. Social Security in the SADCC States of Southern Africa: Social-Welfare Programmes and the Reduction of Household Vulnerability
    Morgan Richard
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