First published in 1948, the International Social Security Review is the principal international quarterly publication in the field of social security.
Using survey evidence collected from social security organizations and contribution collection agencies, a major aim of this article is to advance knowledge sharing and good practice on contribution collection and the enforcement of compliance. Although contribution collection and compliance have important social protection, political and fiscal dimensions, this article frames the pursuit of these objectives as an aspect of administrative good governance. The evidence suggests that seven core factors combine often to form the basis of success in contribution collection and compliance. In addition to improving benefit adequacy and the financial health and public standing of programmes, such success may support also national and international efforts to extend social protection coverage. Ultimately, the achievement and scale of any such success may be determined and delimited by the broader national policy environment, over which most social security organizations have little or no influence.
Managing employer social insurance compliance is a particularly difficult governance challenge in emerging economies that have weak regulatory regimes. Utilizing qualitative evidence from eight case studies conducted in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China, this article details how employers respond to attempts by the State to manage social insurance behaviour. Five concerns arose from employers' perceptions and responses to the established policies and regulatory structures: construction of an effective policy, level playing field, cost control, firm reputation, and recruitment and retention. Further, the findings indicate that there are three enterprise features that could affect compliance behaviour: risk factors, skill composition of the workforce, and form of ownership. It was anticipated that firm size may affect compliance behaviour, but no clear pattern emerged.