A Japan-China Comparative Study of Marketization Path in Welfare Service

:Focusing on the Elder Care

Abstract

　　Marketization in welfare service is becoming a hot issue in the social policy in both Japan and China. However, the difference in the path of marketization has not yet been explained clearly and properly. In this study, to approach the changes in two countries’ service delivery system dynamically, we made a theoretical framework (and also visualized in a matrix) by two key concepts, Williamson’s “governance mechanism” for transaction and “form of service producer” for privatization. Based on this framework, we made a comparative study on elder care and the conclusions can be summarized as follows. First, even though the policies and institutions in service delivery system of Japan and China seems totally different from the beginning until now, both of them started from a “hierarchy and public-based” structure and converged to a “hybrid and private-based” structure. Second, the marketization path of Japan seems gradual and dependent, while China has an obvious path-departure in 1990s because of the reform of state-owned enterprises. Third, to China, whether the quantities of service deliverysystems are enough for turning into a hybrid governance structure such as a long-term care insurance system is a serious problem that needs to be positively discussed. Last, the concept of marketization itself not only means taking advantage of market mechanism unilaterally, the conjugation with regulation in transaction is also very important.