Abstract
This paper proposes a new definition and conceptual framework for Social Protection grounded in Social Risk Management. The concept repositions the traditional areas of Social Protection (labor market intervention, social insurance and social safety nets) in a framework that includes three strategies to deal with risk (prevention, mitigation and coping), three levels of formality of risk management (informal, market-based, public) and many actors (individuals, households, communities, NGOs, governments at various levels and international organizations) against the background of asymmetric information and different types of risk. This expanded view of Social Protection emphasizes the double role of risk management instruments—protecting basic livelihood as well as promoting risk taking. It focuses specifically on the poor since they are the most vulnerable to risk and typically lack appropriate risk management instruments, which constrains them from engaging in riskier but also higher return activities and hence gradually moving out of chronic poverty.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmad, E., J. Dreze and A. K. Sen. (1991). Social Security in Developing Countries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Alderman, H. and Ch. Paxson. (1992). "Do the Poor Insure. A Synthesis of the Literature on Risk and Consumption in Developing Countries." Policy Research Working Papers-Agricultural Policies,WPS1008, The World Bank, October.
Badelt, Ch. (1999). Social Risk Management and Social Inclusion. World Bank, September (mimeo).
Barr, N. (1998). The Economics of the Welfare State, 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Baulch, B. and J. Hoddinott (2000). "Economic Mobility and Poverty Dynamics in Developing Countries." Journal of Development Studies 36(6), 1–24.
Bernstein, P. L. (1996). Against the Gods-The Remarkable Story of Risk. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Besley, T. (1995). Savings, Credit, and Insurance. In J. Behrman and T. N. Srinivasan (eds.). Handbook of Development Economics, Vol. III, Amsterdam (North Holland) 2123–2207.
Binswanger, H. and M. Rosenzweig. (1993). "Wealth, Weather Risk and the Composition and Profitability of Agricultural Investments." Economic Journal 103, 56–78.
Coate, St. and M. Ravaillon. (1993). "Reciprocity Without Commitment. Characterization and Performance of Informal Arrangements." Journal of Development Economics 40, 1–24.
Collier, P. and J. W. Gunning. (1999). "Why has Africa Grown Slowly." Journal of Political Perspectives 13(3), 3–22.
Deacon, B., M. Hulse and P. Stubbs. (1997). Global Social Policy-International Organizations and the Future of Welfare, London: Sage Publications.
Deaton, A. (1997). The Analysis of Household Surveys: A Microeconomic Approach to Development Policy, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Eichberger, J. and I. Harper. (1997). Financial Economics, New York: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, F. (1998). "Household Strategies and Rural Livelihood Diversification." Journal of Development Studies 35(1), 1–38.
Gerowitz, M. (1988). Saving and development. In H. Chenery and T. N. Srinivasan (eds.), The Handbook of Development Economics, Vol. I, Amsterdam (North Holland), 382–424.
Gore, Ch. (1995). Introduction: Markets, Citizenship and Social Exclusion. In Rodgers, G., Gore, Ch. and J. B. Figueiredo (eds.), Social Exclusion: Rhetoric, Reality, Responses, Geneva (IILS), 1–42.
Hesse, P-J. (1997). Autour de l'histoire de la notion de risk. In J.Van Langendonck. (ed.), The New Social Risk/Les Niveaux Risques Sociaux, EISS Yearbook 1996, The Hage et al. (Kluwer Law), 5–52.
Holzmann, R. (1990). The Welfare Effects of Public Expenditure Programs Reconsidered, IMF Staff Papers 37, 338–359.
Holzmann, R. (2001). Risk and Vulnerability: The forward looking role of social protection in a globalizing world, paper presented at the "The Asia and Pacific Forum on Poverty-Policy and Institutional Reforms for Poverty Reduction", Asian Development Bank, Manila, February, 5–9, 2001.
Holzmann, R and S. Jorgensen. (1999). "Social Protection as Social Risk Management: Conceptual Underpinnings for the Social Protection Sector Strategy Paper." Journal of International Development 11, 1005–1027.
Holzmann, R. and J. Stiglitz. (2001). New Ideas About Old Age Security, Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Hoogeveen, H. (2000). Risk and insurance by the poor in developing countries, paper presented at the "Microfinance for Disaster Risk Colloquium." sponsored by UNDP and the Disaster Management Facility, World Bank. Washington, D.C., February 2.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (1999). World Disasters Report, Geneva (IFRC & RCS).
Ilmakunnas, P., V. Kanniainen and U. Lmma. (1999). Entrepreneurship, Economic Risk, and Risk-Insurance in the Welfare State, Helsinki School of Economics (mimeo).
Kanbur, R. and N. Lustig. (1999). Why is Inequality Back on the Agenda? World Bank (mimeo).
Ligon, E., J. P. Thomas and T. Worrall. (1997). Informal Insurance Arrangements in Village Economies, University of California, Berkeley (mimeo).
Lipton, M. and M. Ravallion. (1995). Poverty and Policy. In Behrman J. and T. N. Srinivasan (eds.), The Handbook of Development Economics, Vol. III, Amsterdam (North Holland), 2551–2657.
Morduch, J. (1994). "Poverty and Vulnerability." American Economic Review and Papers and Proceedings 84(2), 221–225.
Morduch, J. (1995). "Income and Consumption Smoothing." Journal of Economic Perspectives 9(3), 103–114.
Morduch, J. (1999a). "Between the State and the Market: Can Informal Insurance Patch the Safety Net?" The World Bank Research Observer 14(2), 187–207.
Murdoch, J. (1999b). "The Microfinance Promise." Journal of Economic Literature (forthcoming). OECD (1994), OECD Job Study, Paris (OECD).
OECD (1999). Assessing Performance and Policy-Implementing the OECD Jobs Strategy, Paris (OECD).
Pigou, A. C. (1932). The Economics of Welfare, London: Macmillan.
Platteau, J.-P. (1996). "Mutual Insurance as an Elusive Concept in Traditional Rural Societies." Journal of Development Studies 23(4), 461–490.
Platteau, J.-P. (1999). Traditional Sharing Norms as an Obstacle to Economic Growth in Tribal Society. In Platteau J. P. (ed.), Institutions, Social Norms, and Economic Development, Chapter 5, Chur (Harwood Academic Publisher).
Ravallion, M. (1997). "Famine and Economics." Journal of Economic Literature 35(3), 1205–1242.
Rodrik, D. (1999). "Where did all the Growth go? External Shocks, Social Conflict, and Growth Collapses." Journal of Economic Growth 4, December, 385–412.
Sen, A. (1998). "Economic policy and equity: An Overview." In V. Tanzi, K. Chu and S. Gupta (eds.), Economic Policy and Equity, Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund.
Sinha, S. and M. Lipton. (1999). Undesirable Fluctuations, Risk and Poverty: A Review, Draft, World Bank (mimeo), October.
Siegel, P. and J. Alwang. (1999). An Asset-based Approach to Social Risk Management-A Conceptual Framework, Social Protection Discussion Paper No. 9926, The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Silver, H. (1995). Reconceptualizing Social Disadvantage: Three Paradigms of Social Exclusion. In G. Rodgers, Ch. Gore and J. B. Figueiredo (eds.), Social Exclusion, Reality, Responses, Geneva (IILS), 57–80.
Sinn, H.-W. (1995). "A Theory of the Welfare State." Scandinavian Journal of Economics 97, 495–526.
Sinn, H.-W. (1998). Social Insurance, Incentives and Risk-taking. In P. B. Sørensen (ed.), Public Finance in a Changing World, London: Macmillan, 73–100.
Stiglitz, J. E. (1975). Information in Economic Analysis. In M. Parkin, and A. R. Nobay (eds.). Current Economic Problems, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stiglitz, J. E. (1988). Economic Organization, Information and Development. In H. Chenerey and T. N. Srinivasan (eds.), Handbook of Development Economics, Vol. I, Amsterdam, North Holland, 94–160.
Tanzi, V. (2000). Globalization and the Future of Social Protection, IMF Working Paper, WP/00/12, January.
Udry, C. (1990). "Credit Markets in Northern Nigeria: Credit as Insurance in a Rural Economy." The World Bank Economic Review 4, 251–269.
Udry, C. (1994). "Risk and Insurance in a Rural Credit Market: An Empirical Investigation in Northern Nigeria." Review of Economic Studies 63, 495–526.
Vos, R. and E. de Labastida (1998). Economic and Social Effects of "el niño" in Ecuador, 1997–98, FirstWorkshop of the LACEA/IDB/World Bank Inequality and Poverty Network, Buenos Aires, October 22–24, 1998.
Walker, T. and J. Ryan. (1990). Village and Household Economies in India's Semi-Arid Tropics, Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
World Bank (1994). Zambia Poverty Assessment, Human Resource Division, Southern Africa Department, Africa Regional Office.
World Bank. (2000b). Dynamic Risk Management and the Poor-Developing a Social Protection Strategy for Africa, revised draft, October.
World Bank. (2000a). World Development Report 2000/01–Attacking Poverty, Washington, D.C., The World Bank.
World Bank. (2001). Social Protection Sector Strategy-From Safety Net to Springboard, Washington, D.C., The World Bank.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Holzmann, R., Jørgensen, S. Social Risk Management: A New Conceptual Framework for Social Protection, and Beyond. International Tax and Public Finance 8, 529–556 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011247814590
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011247814590