Comparative and International Social Policy Cluster

We specialise in researching the impact of social policy in different countries - Photo (cc) http://www.flickr.com/photos/heiwa4126/2209461984/

Much of the research conducted within the Department compares social policy across nations, examines social policy outside of the UK and/or is concerned with international dimensions of– and international influences on– social policy.

There is a strong cluster of staff and research students active within this area. Key specialisms include (but are not limited to):

  • welfare regime theory
  • comparative analysis of poverty
  • the impacts of globalisation and internationalisation on welfare states
  • political economy of welfare
  • comparisons of child well-being
  • migration
  • comparisons of family policy
  • comparisons of housing policy
  • environment and social policy

Projects draw on a wide range of methods from across quantitative, qualitative and systematic mixed methods approaches. Work is similarly varied in its focus, from strongly applied empirical pieces through to more abstract and theoretically rooted work.

Major conferences hosted by York

In July 2011 the Department hosted the International Society for Child Indicators (ISCI) conference and in July 2012 will host the joint East Asian Social Policy Research Network/UK Social Policy Association Annual Conference.  

Grants

Recent research by staff in this cluster has been funded through grants and awards from a number of bodies, including:  Alcohol Education and Research Council; Department for International Development (DFID); Department for Work and Pensions; Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); European Union (EU); National Institute for Health Research (NIHR); Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; UNICEF; Worldwide Universities Network (WUN).

Awards

The outstanding quality of the work undertaken by our research students in this cluster has been marked by a number of prestigious awards for doctoral work received in recent years. Two of our students have been awarded the European Network for Social Policy Analysis/Journal of European Social Policy Doctoral Researcher Prize: Stefan Kühner in 2005 and Nam Jo in 2009. Another was awarded the Joint University Council Public Administration Committee Postgraduate Researcher Prize: Dan Horsfall in 2008.

Research output

Selected publications

Bradshaw, J. (2009) An international perspective on child benefit packages, in Kamerman, S., Phipps, S. and Ben-Arieh, A. (eds) From Child Welfare to Child Well-being: An international Perspective on Knowledge in the Service of Policy Making, Springer: Dordrecht. pp 293-308.

Bradshaw, J. (2010) Child poverty and child-well being in the European Union, Policy overview and policy impact analysis: A case study: UK,  in TARKI Child poverty and child well-being in the European Union. Report prepared for the DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (Unite E.2) of the European Commission, Budapest. Available online [PDF].

Bradshaw, J. (2011) Child benefits in the European Union, Poverty,  139, 13-16.

Bradshaw, J. and Mayhew, E. (2010) Understanding Extreme Poverty in the European Union, European Journal of Homelessness, 4, 171-186. Available online [PDF].

Bradshaw, J. and Mayhew, E. (2011) The Measurement of Extreme Poverty in the European Union, European Commission DG Employment Social Affairs and Inclusion. European Commission, Common Indicators Website.

Bradshaw, J. and Richardson, D. (2009) An index of child well-being in Europe, Journal of Child Indicators Research. Available via Springer.

Bradshaw, J., Keung, A., Rees, G. and Goswami, H. (2011) Children’s subjective well-being: international comparative perspectives, Children and Youth Services Review, Review 33, 548-556. Available via ScienceDirect.

Carrera, P. and Lunt, N. (2010) A European perspective on medical tourism: the need for a knowledge base, International Journal of Health Services, 40, 3, 469-484.

Holden, C. (2009) ‘Exporting Public-Private Partnerships in Healthcare: Export Strategy and Policy Transfer’, Policy Studies, 30(3): 313-332.

Holden, C. and Lee, K. (2009) ‘Corporate Power and Social Policy: The Political Economy of the Transnational Tobacco Companies’, Global Social Policy, 9(3): 328-354.

Holden, C., Lee, K., Gilmore, A., Fooks, G. and Wander, N. (2010) ‘Trade Policy, Health and Corporate Influence: British American Tobacco and China’s Accession to the World Trade Organization’, International Journal of Health Services, 40(3): 421-441.

Horsfall, D. (2009) 'From competition state to competition states?'Policy Studies, 2010, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp57-76. Available via Routledge/ Taylor and Francis. Doi: 10.1080/01442870902899863.

Hudson, J (2012 – forthcoming) ‘Welfare Regimes and Global Cities: a Missing Link in the Comparative Analysis of Welfare States?”, Journal of Social Policy.

Hudson, J. and Kühner, S. (2010) ‘Beyond the Dependent Variable Problem: The Methodological Challenges of Capturing Productive and Protective Dimensions of Social Policy’, Social Policy & Society, 9, 167-179.

Hudson, J. and Kühner, S. (2011) 'Analyzing the Productive and Protective Dimensions of Welfare: Looking Beyond the OECD', Social Policy & Administration. Available via Wiley [PDF]. 

Hudson, J. and Kühner, S. (2011) ‘Analysing the Productive Dimensions of Welfare: Looking Beyond East Asia’, in Hwang, G. (ed.). New Welfare States in East Asia: Global Challenges and Restructuring. London: Edward Elgar, pp35-60.

Hudson, J. and Kühner, S. (2011) ‘Tiptoeing Through Crisis? Re-evaluating the German Social Model in Light of the Global Recession’ in Farnsworth, K. & Irving , Z. (eds.) Social Policy in Challenging Times: Economic Crisis and Welfare Systems. Bristol: The Policy Press, pp163-183.

Hudson, J. and Kühner, S. (2009) ' Towards Productive Welfare? A Comparative Analysis of 23 Countries ', Journal of European Social Policy, Vol 19, 1, 34-46. Available via Sage.

Hudson, J. Hwang, J, and Kühner, S (2008) ' Between Ideas, Institutions and Interests: Analysing Third Way Welfare Reform Programmes in Germany and the UK ', Journal of Social Policy, Vol. 37, No 2, p207-230. Available via Cambridge Journals.

Kiernan, K., McLanahan, S., Holmes, J. and Wright, M. (2011) Fragile Families in the US and UK Fragile Families. Working Paper WP 11-04-FF. Center for Research on Child Well-Being, Princeton University. Available online [PDF].

Kühner, S. (2010) ‘Do Party Governments Matter After All? Executive Ideology, Constitutional Structures and Their Combined Effect on Welfare State Change’, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 12(4), 395-415.

Kühner, S. Welfare Retrenchment under Left and Right Government Leadership: Towards a Consolidated Framework?, in: Social Policy Review 24: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy, forthcoming - 2012.

Lau, M. and Bradshaw, J. (2010) Child well-being in the Pacific Rim, Journal of Child Indicators Research, 3, 3, 367-383. Available via Springer.

Lowe, S. (2011) The Housing Debate: Policy and Politics in the Twenty-First Century. Bristol, The Policy Press.

Lunt, N. (2009) 'Transnational Families, Older People and Social Policy: The case of New Zealand', International Journal of Social Welfare, 18, 243-251.

Lunt, N. (2010) 'Welfare reform and the reshaping of New Zealand citizenship', in A. Nevile (ed) Human Rights and Social Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Values and Citizenship in OECD Countries, Edward Elgar (pp. 138-153).

Lunt, N. and Carerra, P. (2010) 'Medical tourism: assessing the evidence on treatment abroad', Maturitas: an International Journal of Mid-life Health, 66, 27-32.

Lunt, N. and Horsfall, D. (2011) 'How medical value travel impacts upon national health systems', Chapter prepared for The Encyclopaedia of Health Economics, A.J. Culyer (ed), Elsevier.

Lunt, N. and Horsfall, D. (2012 in press) 'New Zealand: Sickness and Invalid's Benefit'. In Lindsay, C. and Houston, D. (eds), Disability Benefits and Employment Policy: Fit for Work, Fit for Purpose?, Palgrave Macmillan.

Lunt, N., Mannion, R. and Exworthy, M. (2012) 'A Framework for Exploring the Policy Implications of UK Medical Tourism and International Patient Flows', Social Policy & Administration, in press.

Lunt, N., Smith, R., Exworthy, M., Green, S. T., Horsfall, D. and Mannion, R. (2011) Medical Tourism: Treatments, Markets and Health System Implications: A scoping review. Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD. Available online.

Meyer, D.R., Skinner, C. and Davidson, J. (2011) 'Complex families and equality in child support obligations: A comparative policy analysis', Children and Youth Services Review, 33 (2011) p 1804–1812.

Skinner, C. and Davidson, J. (2009) ‘ Recent Trends In Child Maintenance Schemes in 14 Countries’, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, January 2009.

Skinner, C., Bradshaw, J. and Davidson, J. (2008) Child Support Policy: An international perspective (Chapter 1), Luxembourg Income Study Working Paper, No. 478, Luxembourg Income Study, Luxembourg.

Snell, C. (2010) ‘Millennium Development Goals’, Green Politics: An A-to-Z Guide. SAGE Publications.

Snell, C. (2011) 'Millennium Development Goals', Green Education: An A-to-Z Guide. SAGE Publications.

Snell, C. and Quinn, C. (2011) 'International Development and Global Poverty' in Fitzpatrick, T. (ed) Understanding the Environment and Social Policy. Policy Press, Bristol.

Yeates, N. and Holden,C. (eds) (2009) The Global Social Policy Reader. Bristol: The Policy Press.

Staff profiles