Scholars of the welfare state have long focused on a relatively small number of mature post-industrial political economies, above all the member states of the European Union, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.

From a global standpoint however, Asia is more dynamic than Europe and its populations’ needs for pensions, health and education are less satisfied.

The aim of this policy paper is to explore what we can expect for welfare states in the developing Asian countries when we apply our knowledge of why, when and how Western welfare states expanded to their current size. After an overview of welfare spending in Asia and the EU today this paper will present two theories of comparative social policy analysis which argued that the shape of today’s western welfare states can be explained by economic development and political conflict.