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The notion of social policy as a productive investment and a prerequisite for economic growth became a core feature in the ideology of Swedish social democracy, and a central component of the universalism of the Swedish welfare state. However as the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) embarked on its Third Way in 1981, this outlook on social policy as a productive investment was replaced by the identification of social policy as a cost and a burden for growth. This book discusses the components of this ideological turnaround from Swedish social democracy’s post-war notion of a strong society, to its notion of a Third Way in the early 1980s. It is a novel and innovative contribution to the history of Swedish social democracy and recent developments in the Swedish welfare state, and it also sheds light on contemporary social policy debates. It will appeal to a wide readership from students of contemporary history and politics to policy makers and specialists.

In 2020, China announced the successful completion of its poverty alleviation mission, noting that the focus of China’s poverty alleviation mission has shifted from eliminating absolute poverty to alleviating relative poverty. Due to global warming and frequent natural disasters, natural disaster shocks have seriously affected farmers’ livelihoods and aggravated relative poverty. Based on 5,804 rural household samples from the China Family Panel Studies, the impact of natural disasters on farmers’ relative poverty was investigated using the logit model. In addition, the interaction terms between the impact and intensity of natural disasters, non-agricultural employment and productive investment were included in the model. The results show that: 1) Natural disaster shocks and natural disaster intensities had a significant positive impact on farmers’ relative poverty. 2) Migrating for work and stable employment effectively alleviated the positive impact of natural disaster shocks and natural disaster intensities on farmers’ relative poverty, respectively. 3) Productive investment weakened the positive impact of natural disaster shocks on farmers’ relative poverty. 4) Scale management effectively alleviated the positive impact of natural disaster shocks on farmers’ relative poverty, but the moderating effect of scale management was not significant in areas with high disaster intensities.

Public investment plays a fundamental role in fostering economic growth by reducing infrastructure gaps and improving access to essential services. This research aim is to analyse the relationship between public investment and economic growth in Peru between 2000 and 2023, through a quantitative, correlational, and non-experimental design. Data were collected from official sources, including the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI). The results revealed a positive and strong correlation between the two variables. During the analyzed period, public investment registered a significant increase, with a correlation coefficient of 95.89%, evidencing a robust association. In conclusion, the study confirms that public investment plays a critical role in promoting economic growth and enhancing its various dimensions.

The willingness of farmers to transfer land on a big scale will be impacted when the rural social security system is not ideal, which will limit households’ productive investment. This paper investigated the intermediate effects of social security on farmland transfer and productive investment by using zero-inflated models based on 4703 samples across China. Here are the findings: (1) Farmland transfer does not significantly impact productive investment without considering social society. (2) With the improvement in social security, farmland transfer significantly affects fixed investment but is not the same as households’ current investment. (3) Under the social security constraints, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between farmland transfer and current investment. (4) The partial effect of farmland transfer on fixed investment is significantly positive, and it shows a trend of rising volatility. The government should re-examine the expected effects of the farmland transfer policy and focus on the farmers’ worries about the future. Meanwhile, it is necessary to comprehensively improve the social security system and improve the multi-dimensional survival ability of farmers to give full play to the critical role of farmland transfer in current investment.

Cultivated land planting structure is directly related to China’s food security. The Central Rural Work Conference in 2021 pointed out that to ensure food security, attention should be paid to the adjustment of planting structure. Therefore, it is necessary to explore whether land tenure security has an impact on farmers’ cultivated land non-grain behavior. Based on the micro survey data of 550 farmers in the Guanzhong Plain, this paper explores the impact of land tenure security on farmers’ cultivated land non-grain behavior with the help of the OLS model and the Binary Probit model, and further explores its internal transmission mechanism through the mediation effect model. It is found that land tenure security significantly promotes farmers’ cultivated land non-grain behavior. After replacing model estimation, core variables for robustness tests, and solving endogeneity problems, the research conclusion is still valid. The analysis of the influence mechanism shows that land tenure security affects farmers’ cultivated land non-grain behavior by increasing land transfer and agricultural productive investment. Among them, agricultural productive investment has the greatest impact, followed by land transfer. In addition, the study also found that land tenure security can promote their cultivated land non-grain behavior by strengthening their credit availability for farmers with low fragmentation. Heterogeneity analysis results show that off-farm employment and social services can effectively alleviate the impact of land tenure security on farmers’ cultivated land non-grain behavior. This paper provides a new research perspective for analyzing the incentives of cultivated land non-grain from the micro-mechanism. At the same time, it revealed the inner root of the government’s predicament in the governance of cultivated land non-grain. It provided a new reference for the government to formulate new policies for managing non-grained cultivated land.

Climate change is widespread, rapid, and is intensifying. Using Chinese disaster data and the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, this study examines the impact of climate shocks on the vulnerability of farm households to poverty and the mechanism of household resource allocation in this process. The results show that (a) climate shocks can significantly increase the poverty vulnerability of farm households. (b) The effect of climate shocks on farm household poverty vulnerability is regionally and individually heterogeneous. Climate non-security zones, risk-averse farmers, and low social capital farmers are more vulnerable to climate shocks and fall into poverty. (c) The mediating effects suggest that climate shocks affect the poverty vulnerability of farm households by influencing their developmental investment, productive investment, and precautionary saving. The paper finally concludes and discusses some policy implications in the national response to climate change and transformation of farmers’ livelihoods.

This article explores patterns of remittance sending among male and female migrants from Mexico to the United States, and patterns in the use of remittances among receiving households in Mexico. It also identifies variables that determine remittance sending and saving behaviors in migrants’ most recent U.S. trip. Results reveal gendered differences in the investment and consumption strategies adopted by families in communities of origin. Despite marked differences in the capacity of women to generate remittances and savings compared with men, patterns of remittance use by families in communities of origin are not substantially distinct, though female migrants are more likely to send remittances for investments in human capital than male migrants. In addition, remittances and savings sent by male migrants are more likely to be used in housing improvements and investments in productive capital than those sent by women. These differences do not necessarily reflect migrants’ preferences, but mirror the sociocultural contexts in which decision-making about remittances, savings, and spending take place.

The aims of this study are to describe the effect of partially and simultaneously the level of income, family support, and the level of productive investment on the welfare level of Indonesian migrant workers. The research method used is quantitative research, with a correlational approach, especially at the descriptive verification level. The population of this research is as many as 2,400 people. The sampling technique chosen was purposive sampling. The number of research samples is 240 people or 10% of the total population. Data was collected using a survey method. The study was conducted in two districts in Central Java Province, Indonesia. Data analysis in this study uses inferential statistics to test hypotheses using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) formula or structural equation model with the help of software and LISREL version 8.70. Based on the results of the analysis can be concluded: there is a significant effect both partially and simultaneously between the level of income, family support, and the level of productive investment on the level of welfare of migrant workers. The most influential factor on the welfare of the Indonesian workforce is the factor of productive investment.

The diaspora of developing countries can be a potent force for development for their countries of origin, through remittances, but also, importantly, through promotion of trade, investments, research, innovation, and knowledge and technology transfers. This book brings relevant experience from both developed and developing countries to bear on issues confronting today's governments in linking with their diaspora. The chapters present different approaches used by countries that have tried to maximize the possible gains from migration by engaging more comprehensively with different diaspora groups and individuals. Some African countries are pursuing policies to develop links with Africans abroad, either to encourage them to return or to use their skills, knowledge, or financial capital to foster African development. The book discusses concrete examples of diaspora initiatives that are being implemented in Africa. There are comprehensive reviews on how the diaspora can promote trade and investment linkages. Some developing countries are using dual citizenship to deepen ties with their diaspora. The book directly addresses the issues of remittances-linked financial instruments, investments by the diaspora, diaspora bonds, contributions of skilled and unskilled diaspora in transferring knowledge, analytical research on return migration, and concrete circular migration experiences. There is a need to have a better understanding of these initiatives and to see whether they can be scaled up or replicated in other countries worldwide.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the pattern of expansion of overseas market for wage earners, inflow of remittances, its disposal pattern and the extent of non-productive investments. Design/methodology/approach It analyzed behavioral differences between semi-urban and rural households using primary data collected from 78 remittance recipients in Comilla district. Most of the results were produced using arithmetic analytical tools. Besides, one regression model was fit to quantify the effect of a few identical factors on remittance receipts for semi-urban and rural households. Findings Members of semi-urban families were early expatriates, who remitted larger amount than rural ones. Years of schooling and overseas experiences had larger marginal effects on remittance amount in rural area compared to semi-urban one. However, aging and overseas labor freedom influenced negatively anywhere. Rural households were more cautious in spending who had lower remittance elasticity than that of semi-urban ones except of capital items. Household assets were concentrated to lands, home appliances and gold ornaments, the rate of return of which were one-tenth of market interest rate. Practical implications Non-productive investments were concentrated the most to land for rural households and to ornaments for semi-urban ones. However, education and healthcare appeared as necessary elements in livelihoods, for which households might move toward human resource-related investment schemes. Originality/value This study measured the sensitivity with household spending to remittance receipts and why the remittance was not moving into productive schemes in the process of urbanization.