Stephan Köppe (University of Edinburgh), Florian Blank (WSI - Institute of Economic and Social Research) and Tanja Klenk (ZeS) organised a workshop on welfare markets at the Centre for Social Policy Research. The participants discussed the role of actors in welfare markets during the two day event.
The workshop brought together senior and junior researchers in the field to establish a network on privatisation and marketisation in social policy. The German scholars were accompanied by researchers from Britain and France with participants presenting several comparative studies.
The first day covered the role of business interest and decision makers. The lectures debated companies’ strategies in welfare markets such as lobbying, marketing and social management. The presentations focussing on the role of decision makers emphasised local government implementation strategies, unions’ positions and religious interest groups.
The second day was comprised of theoretical and empirical contributions specifically focussed on consumers. The participants discussed: the multiple user roles on welfare markets, information and institutional settings to influence consumer behaviour, and the take-up of private insurance such as pension cover or mortgage payment protection insurance.
This was the third workshop by the group and further activities are planned both within the network of young researchers and along with more issue specific expert workshops for a broader audience such as practitioners in welfare markets.
Contact:
Dr. Tanja Klenk
