1. Development Cooperation Seminar Social Protection: Towards Universal Coverage in Thailand
5 November 2010
Michael Samson
Economic Policy Research Institute
and Williams College CDE
International perspective on affordability, feasibility and developmental impact of social protection
The

2. OECD countries invest significant shares of national income in social protection
Source: OECD, cited in Hagemejer (2007)
Social protection expenditure as % of GDP

3. ....and social protection accounts for substantial poverty reduction in higher income countries
SOURCE: UNDESA, OECD AND ILO

4. Development country spending on social protection
Mean 1.7% of GDP; median 1.4% of GDP (n=72)
For 1/2 of countries is about 1-2 % of GDP

5. Designing social transfers within a broader development planning framework
Intra-
sectoral
linkages
Inter-
sectoral
linkages
Inter-
sectoral
linkages

6. Social protection promotes human capital development and strengthens pro-poor growth
South Africa
Social protection
Human capital
Labour productivity
Pro-poor growth
Increase wages % more
than the cost
of transfers

7. Higher investment and growth
Social protection promotes better risk management and encourages investment
Higher investment and growth
Risk Manage-ment
Social protection

8. Social protection reinforces social cohesion, facilitating economic reforms that promote pro-poor growth
EXAMPLES
Mauritius
Botswana
Nepal
Papua New Guinea
IMF Working Paper, African Department
Who Can Explain The Mauritian Miracle: Meade, Romer, Sachs or Rodrik?
Prepared by Arvind Subramanian and Devesh Roy1, August 2001
“In return for guaranteeing the rights of the sugar owners, the political majority did implicitly extract a compromise in terms of transferring some of the rents from sugar to itself. One important aspect of this transfer was a large, relatively well paid, civil service (staffed predominantly by the majority Indian community) and a generous system of social protection,particularly related to pensions, The success of the sugar industry in Mauritius can thus be seen as an example of what can be termed as optimal rent sharing between the political (predominantly Indian) and economic elites (predominantly non-Indian).” MauritiusPensionExplainGrowthMiracleIMF.pdf, page 37
Mauritius

9. Conclusions Social protection is affordable
Increasingly developing countries are integrating social protection into development plans in order to achieve maximum impact
The growth and development effects have an important impact on affordability and sustainability
Universal approaches contribute the maximum to social cohesion and nation building