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Book Review: Social Security for the Excluded Majority: Case Studies of Developing Countries

By common consent the pace and intensity of positive economic change amongst the developing world has been very uneven over recent decades. The factors responsible for this heterogeneity are many. And whilst broad generalizations will always be dangerous, it is probably fair to say that the more successful episodes of sustained development have belonged to those that managed to establish well-functioning and accountable institutions in all the critical areas of both private and public life. This edited volume concerns itself with the discussion of one of these key institutions across several developing economies in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In the modern era the provision of different forms of social security dates back to the middle part of the 19th century and was largely confined to the developed world. For much of the developing world access to social security has come relatively late and even then the benefits have been spread relatively thinly. Amongst the many reasons for this one should mention the twin difficulties of these economies’ low tax base and the heavy incidence of non-formal work. In the case of India, for example, it is wellknown that the income tax base stretches out to cover just a few million individuals whilst the self-employed and informal workforce comprise around 90 percent of the working population. Recognition of these issues provides the editor and nine others with the motivation to provide a finely tuned study examining the provision of several different forms of social security within Benin, China, El Salvador, India and the United Republic of Tanzania. The case studies presented are novel and draw out many of the operational and administrative aspects of self-financed and other schemes for informal and self-employed workers. A particular strength of the book is its exploration of how protection schemes may be extended through the formation of key partnership arrangements between a variety of private and public bodies. Further, realism about the significance of exclusion and marginalization and the urgency for reform in the face of unforgiving budget constraints gives the book added authority. At least in the short term the budget position of many a developing country has been dealt a severe blow through the implementation of structural adjustment programmes. Experimentation with SAPs has generally not favoured the urban (and rural) under-class thus heightening the need for protection schemes. As such any study examining these issues must be welcome, especially one that is as well researched and written as this. This book will be of great value to academics and practitioners alike.