Determinants of Public Support for Social Protection Reforms in Developing Countries.

In the last two decades, social protection reforms have become a globalized phenomenon and have increasingly been acknowledged by policy makers and donor agencies such as the World Bank and the International Labour Organization as a key mechanism for reducing poverty and promoting economic growth. As such, many national governments in low and middle income countries especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America have embraced the logic behind these reforms and are currently expanding the coverage of their public social protection systems.

However, despite the recent prevalence of social protection reforms in the developing world, not much has yet been done to explain key issues affecting the reform processes themselves. A large chunk of the existing scholarly evidence is largely centered on the design and impact of social protection initiatives. Therefore drawing on an empirical survey to be conducted in the course of this project, this study will analyze and explain the factors that determine public support for social protection reforms in a development context. Furthermore, the study will also analyze how and in what ways public support could contribute to the political sustainability of reforms in developing countries.

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Katja Bender