This paper is an overview of the social welfare systems of five East Asian countries, namely Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. It analyses the overall costs of welfare as well as income distribution aspects, based on both aggregate data and a programme-by-programme review of their...

The welfare regime in East Asia has long been characterized as a 'residual welfare state.' Yet, recent development also suggests that welfare systems in these countries have experienced significant expansion. Scholars have largely agreed that economic openness exerts significant impacts on...

From the welfare state's origins in Europe, the idea of human welfare being organized through a civilized, institutionalized and uncorrupt state has caught the imagination of social activists and policy-makers around the world. This is particularly influential where rapid social development is...