Evaluating the Impact of Social Security Schemes on Socioeconomic Development: A Systematic Literature Review

Authors

  • Dr Renu Sharma Department of Business Administration, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7581-1375
  • Purnima Tripathi Department of Business Administration, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2025.v10.n1.012

Keywords:

Social Security Schemes, Social Protection Policies, Poverty Alleviation, Economic Welfare

Abstract

This systematic literature review explores the impact of social security schemes, social protection policies, and poverty alleviation initiatives on economic welfare and policy outcomes. Peer-reviewed research on the function of social security and protection systems in promoting equality, social inclusion, and poverty alleviation is compiled in this review. The English-language articles that were chosen for inclusion concentrated on empirical evaluations of economic welfare, legislative frameworks, and the efficacy of different social safety programs. This review adds significantly to policy analysis and social welfare theory by analyzing a variety of international studies and highlighting important insights into the planning, execution, and difficulties of social security and protection programs. With implications for future policy reforms aimed at poverty alleviation and social empowerment, the findings highlight the significance of targeted, context-specific initiatives to improve the sustainability and inclusivity of social protection systems.

Author Biographies

Dr Renu Sharma, Department of Business Administration, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India

Dr. Renu Sharma is an assistant professor at Mohanlal Sukhadia University, College of Commerce & Management Studies in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. With a background in tourism, business law, labor law, and sustainable development, she is adept at implementing contemporary teaching methods and managing projects, exams, and assessments. Her professional goal is to promote higher-order thinking and creativity to improve student performance and strive for excellence in research and teaching. The impact of bank mergers on customer attributes, factors influencing migrant worker wellbeing during the pandemic, and patient adoption of IoT in e-health systems using advanced modeling are just a few of the noteworthy studies Dr. Renu Sharma co-authored. Additionally, she investigated how COVID-19 affected perceptions of teaching and learning in higher education. Reputable UGC Care and Scopus-indexed publications have published her work.

Purnima Tripathi, Department of Business Administration, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India

Purnima Tripathi is a research assistant presently engaged in an ICSSR Major Project at MLSU, Udaipur. She has presented at the 75th AICC of the Indian Commerce Association (2024) and the 5th International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Business Sustainability (YERA, 2024). Among her studies is a published paper titled "Bibliometric Insight into Metaverse’s Role in the Tourism Industry." She exhibits good organizational, communication, research, and analytical abilities from her internships. She has a Master's and Bachelor's degree in Economics, is UGC-NET qualified (2020, 2021, 2024), and is proficient in Microsoft Office, SPSS, and NVivo.

References

Ahmad, E., Drèze, J., Hills, J., & Sen, A. (Eds.). (1991). Social security in developing countries. In Social Security in Developing Countries. Oxford University PressOxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198233008.001.0001

Altman, M., Mokomane, Z., & Wright, G. (2014). Social security for young people amidst high poverty and unemployment: Some policy options for South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 31(2), 347–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2013.873346

Asri, V. (2019). Targeting of social transfers: Are India’s poor older people left behind? World Development, 115, 46–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.11.001

Bingwen, Z. (2007). The Origin of China's Partially Funded Social Security Scheme and Its Future Direction. Chinese Economy, 40(4), 6-28. https://doi.org/10.2753/CES1097-1475400401

Bonnet, F., Ehmke, E., & Hagemejer, K. (2010). Social security in times of crisis. International Social Security Review, 63(2), 47–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-246X.2010.01361.x

Carswell, G., & de Neve, G. (2014). MGNREGA in Tamil Nadu: A story of success and transformation? Journal of Agrarian Change, 14(4), 564–585. https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12054

Cavalcanti Ferreiray, P., & Rodrigues dos Santos, M. (n.d.). The Effect of Social Security, Health, Demography and Technology on Retirement Insper Working Paper. https://vbn.aau.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/226324043/AIB2015_ConferenceProgram.pdf

Ceni, R. (2017). Pension schemes and labor supply in the formal and informal sector. In IZA Journal of Labor Policy (Vol. 6, Issue 1). SpringerOpen. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40173-017-0085-1

Costa, C. (2020). Conditional Cash Transfers and Homogeneous Spaces: The Politics of Multiplicative Effects. In Latin American Policy (Vol. 11, Issue 2).

Dauda, R. S. (2017). Poverty and Economic Growth in Nigeria: Issues and Policies. In Journal of Poverty (Vol. 21, Issue 1, pp. 61–79). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/10875549.2016.1141383

Devereux, S., & White, P. (2010). Social Protection in Africa: Evidence, Politics and Rights. Poverty and Public Policy, 2(3), 53–77. https://doi.org/10.2202/1944-2858.1078

Dobbs, E., & Levitt, P. (2017). The missing link? The role of sub-national governance in transnational social protections. Oxford Development Studies, 45(1), 47–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2016.1271867

Dreze, J., & Khera, R. (2017). Recent Social Security Initiatives in India.

Ellis, F. (2012). “We are all poor here”: Economic difference, social divisiveness and targeting cash transfers in sub-saharan Africa. Journal of Development Studies, 48(2), 201–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2011.625408

Galenson, W. (1968). Social Security and Economic Development: A Quantitative Approach. In Source: ILR Review (Vol. 21, Issue 4). https://www.jstor.org/stable/2520757

Gram, L., Skordis-Worrall, J., Saville, N., Manandhar, D. S., Sharma, N., & Morrison, J. (2019). ’There is no point giving cash to women who don’t spend it the way they are told to spend it’ – Exploring women’s agency over cash in a combined participatory women’s groups and cash transfer programme to improve low birthweight in rural Nepal. Social Science and Medicine, 221, 9–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.12.005

Hadna, A. H., & Kartika, D. (2017). Evaluation of poverty alleviation policy: Can conditional cash transfers improve the academic performance of poor students in Indonesia? Cogent Social Sciences, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2017.1295548

Hirazawa, M., & Yakita, A. (2009). Fertility, child care outside the home, and pay-as-you-go social security. Journal of Population Economics, 22(3), 565–583. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-007-0153-8

Izquierdo-Tort, S. (2020). Payments for ecosystem services and conditional cash transfers in a policy mix: Microlevel interactions in Selva Lacandona, Mexico. Environmental Policy and Governance, 30(1), 29–45. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.1876

Kidd, S. (2017). Social exclusion and access to social protection schemes. Journal of Development Effectiveness, 9(2), 212–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/19439342.2017.1305982

Kuitto, K. (2016). From social security to social investment? Compensating and social investment welfare policies in a life-course perspective. Journal of European Social Policy, 26(5), 442–459. https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928716664297

Li, X., & Li, L. (2021). Evaluation of china’s targeted poverty alleviation policies: A decomposition analysis based on the poverty reduction effects. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(21). https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111691

Liu, M., Feng, X., Wang, S., & Qiu, H. (2020). China’s poverty alleviation over the last 40 years: successes and challenges. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 64(1), 209–228. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8489.12353

Liu, Y., Guo, Y., & Zhou, Y. (2018). Poverty alleviation in rural China: policy changes, future challenges and policy implications. China Agricultural Economic Review, 10(2), 241–259. https://doi.org/10.1108/CAER-10-2017-0192

Maes, A. (2003). Informal economic and social security in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Social Security Review, 56(3–4), 39–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-246X.00168

Merrien, F.-X. (2013). Social Protection as Development Policy: A New International Agenda for Action. Revue Internationale de Politique de Développement, 4.2, 89–106. https://doi.org/10.4000/poldev.1525

Miller, C. M. (2011). Cash Transfers and Economic Growth: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Transfer Recipients and Business Owners in Malawi. Poverty and Public Policy, 3(3), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.2202/1944-2858.1147

Mtetwa, E., & Muchacha, M. (2013). Towards A National Social Protection Policy: Knowledge and Lessons from a Comparative Analysis of the Design and Implementation of Public Assistance and Harmonised Social Cash Transfer Programmes In Zimbabwe. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS, 11(3), 18–24. www.Iosrjournals.Org

Nnaeme, C. C. (2021). How cash transfers activate beneficiaries’ decision-making in livelihood activities: A case of Soweto, South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 38(2), 282–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2020.1834352

Oliveira, M. C., & Cravo, T. A. (2021). Social Protection and Cash Transfers in Mozambique: Between international consensus and local agency1. Cadernos de Estudos Africanos, 41, 165–194. https://doi.org/10.4000/cea.6474

Ono, T. (2003). Social Security Policy with Public Debt in an Aging Economy. In Source: Journal of Population Economics (Vol. 16, Issue 2). https://www.jstor.org/stable/20000194

Osabohien, R., Matthew, O., Ohalete, P., & Osabuohien, E. (2020). Population–Poverty–Inequality Nexus and Social Protection in Africa. Social Indicators Research, 151(2), 575–598. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-020-02381-0

Paul, C. (2022). Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) and national development in Nigeria: emerging pitfalls and pathways to results. Journal of Enterprise and Development (JED), 4(1).

Rogers, M. L., & Pridemore, W. A. (2013). The effect of poverty and social protection on national homicide rates: Direct and moderating effects. Social Science Research, 42(3), 584–595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.12.005

Sengupta, S., & Costella, C. (2023). A framework to assess the role of social cash transfers in building adaptive capacity for climate resilience. Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/1943815X.2023.2218472

Swamy, A. R. (2016). Can Social Protection Weaken Clientelism? Considering Conditional Cash Transfers as Political Reform in the Philippines. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs and Journal of Politics in Latin America: . Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 35, 59–90. www.giga-journal-family.org

Taylor, D. R., Gray, M., & Stanton, D. (2016). New conditionality in Australian social security policy. In Australian Journal of Social Issues (Vol. 51, Issue 1, pp. 3–26). Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1839-4655.2016.tb00362.x

Tomazini, C. (2019). Beyond consensus: ideas and advocacy coalitions around cash transfer programs in Brazil and Mexico. Critical Policy Studies, 13(1), 23–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2017.1352529

Ulriksen, M. S. (2012). How social security policies and economic transformation affect poverty and inequality: Lessons for South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 29(1), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2012.645637

Ulriksen, M. S., & Plagerson, S. (2014). Social Protection: Rethinking Rights and Duties. World Development, 64, 755–765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.07.009

Umezurike, I. S., & Adam, I. S. (2020). The Latin American and Nigerian Conditional Cash Transfer Experience: A Comparative Analysis. Journal of Public Administration and Governance, 10(3), 20. https://doi.org/10.5296/jpag.v10i3.16142

van Ginneken, W. (2003). Extending social security: Policies for developing countries. International Labour Review, 142(3), 277–294. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1564-913x.2003.tb00263.x

Wagener, A. (2004). On intergenerational risk sharing within social security schemes. European Journal of Political Economy, 20(1), 181–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2003.02.002

Downloads

Published

10-01-2025

How to Cite

Sharma, R., & Tripathi, P. (2025). Evaluating the Impact of Social Security Schemes on Socioeconomic Development: A Systematic Literature Review. RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary, 10(1), 96–109. https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2025.v10.n1.012