THE FRENCH WELFARE STATE AND SOCIAL WAGE: ECONOMIC AND IDEOLOGICAL CHALLENGES

FAZELI Rafat , California State University University

FAZELI Reza, California State University University

SHAIKH Anwar, New School for Social Research

Abstract:
This paper concentrates on the recent development of the welfare state and social wage in France. On the empirical level, our study is concerned with the net benefits or net social wage received by the French working population. Net social wage is the difference between these two categories. This measurement will enable us to find out whether the working population has received a net gain (or net social wage) and whether this net gain has expanded over time. The paper offers a comparative study of the trends of the “social wage” in France in the last decades before the Great Recession. It addresses two major questions. The first question is whether the expansion of social expenditures has posed any drag on capital accumulation and economic growth in this country. The second question is whether the increasing ideological challenges from the right and the competitive pressures of globalization have led to retrenchment of the French welfare states in the recent decades.

Keywords: Welfare State, Social Wage, Economic Growth, Government Expenditures, Taxes

JEL Classification: B55, C88, E01, E24, E69, H50, H53

Volume: 71, Issue: 3

Pages: 8 - 22

Publication date: November, 2019

Download the article: http://economice.ulbsibiu.ro/revista.economica/archive/71301fazeli&fazeli&shaikh.pdf

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