Though social welfare has developed in the Asian Tigers since the 1950s, says Tang (arts and social and health sciences, U. of Northern British Columbia), it has been little studied. He finds that the governments have not relied on western models of a welfare state, and so most theories cannot account for the development. In many cases, welfare is underdeveloped because of the emphasis on creating wealth and because of arguments that state welfare would erode culturally legitimated forms of mutual support. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Comparative social policy has long neglected welfare development in Asia. Not much is known about social welfare in the economically successful East Asian tigers (Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan). They are late starters in social welfare but each has its own trajectory of welfare development. Despite the presence of extensive social welfare, they have shied away from Western-style welfare states. The presence of strong developmental states and their development ethos explain in large part the underdevelopment of state welfare.
