抄録

　本稿は,福祉国家に共通する再編圧力の本質を,アメリカ企業年金の変化の中に見極める試みである.アメリカ企業年金の多くは,雇用主による労働市場の分断を補強する私的な労務管理手段として,特定の経済・社会的構造を前提に普及した.それが持つ私的な性質は,制度のダイナミズムの源泉として各国の福祉国家的諸制度にも共有されている.それゆえ企業年金は,今日各国が共通して直面している福祉国家の再編圧力の本質をより純粋に体現する震度計となりうる.比較福祉国家研究は,福祉国家の多様性を強調する一方で,各国制度の共有する私的性質を逆説的に浮き彫りした.しかし,比較研究の枠組みでは,こうした知見は福祉国家の動態の解明に十分に活用されなかった.本稿は,彼らの死角を補う手段としてアメリカ企業年金研究を位置づけ,そこで発生した変化を経済構造の変化,および所有権概念の発達に伴う「分断原理」の解体と構築という枠組みにおいて整理する.最後に,この変化が世界の福祉国家再編において持つ意味が示唆される.

abstract

Welfare states in the developed countries are under pressures to adjust themselves to the globalization of economies and the aging populations. The comparative studies of welfare states, led by Espin-Anderson, emphasize diversity of their types and imply their stability against the external pressures. This article questions this positionarguing that previous studies have slighted internal forces from their common similarity to private benefits although they successfully pointed out that aspect of welfare states. Analyzing changes of private pension plans in the United States, I describe the internal dynamism of the welfare states. Traditional private pensions called "defined benefit plans" prevailed as tools for employers, and unions, to reinforce isolation of their employees from the outside labor market until 1970s. The rapid growth of defined contribution plans, like 401(k)s, in recent decades means active change by employers to keep the tools useful for them in the emerging post-industrial economy. It consists not only from dismantling of the tools but also from renewal of them with concept of "property right of pension". This aspect can be a key to understand the recent restructuring of the welfare states.