Globalization is widely believed to have restricted the freedom of policy makers - many fear that the forces of a global economy prevent different political parties from making substantially distinctive policy choices. In Partisanship, Globalization, and Canadian Labour Market Policy, Rodney Haddow and Thomas Klassen explore this contentious issue by comparing labour market policy in Canada's most populous provinces, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta, between 1990 and 2003.

Using the most up-to-date theoretical approaches available, Haddow and Klassen examine...

While there has been an unprecedented explosion of legalized gambling in Canada - particularly in the form of casinos and electronic games - the public has become increasingly aware of addictions to gambling. Casino State is a timely collection that examines the controversial role of the state as a promoter of gambling activities often against the best interest of its citizens.

Investigating the tensions that arise from the relationships between gambling and morality, risk, social policy, crime, and youth problem gambling, these essays draw upon a range of disciplines to...

The distinguishing feature for many workers in South Korea is contractual - and often involuntary - retirement at a young age (mid-50s for most workers) followed by precarious and low-paying self-employment or contract work. In the past this practice, which is also found in other East Asian nations, provided firms with a youthful and highly productive workforce. However, with a rapidly aging population and shifts in the labour market, the existing arrangement is becoming less and less functional.

This book examines how this retirement arrangement arose, and the policy reforms that...

Even among the four Asian tigers, with their economic miracles during the past several decades that allowed them to join the ranks of the developed nations, South Korea is extraordinary. As significant as its economic progress, from a dirt poor and devastated nation in the 1960s, is South Korea s emerging welfare state. Although established in a short time, and still immature in some aspects, its unique East-Asian model now faces a population that is aging at an unprecedented rate.

This book introduces readers to the impact of demographic changes in Korea, particularly the impact of...

This book analyses reforms to retirement policies in Japan and South Korea, especially in the context of rapid population ageing. A defining feature of the labour markets and workplaces in these two nations, and the lives of workers and families, is involuntary retirement at relatively young ages. The book explains past developments and recent reforms of retirement policies both in the two countries, as well as in a cross-national comparative manner. At the core of the book is an examination of the social, economic and political conflicts around retirement, such as between younger and...