In recent years there is a revival of scholarly interest in the fiscal dimensions of state-society relations that crosses disciplines. This interest is emerging also among welfare state scholars who pay increasing attention to the fiscal-social policy nexus. So far, research in this vein has been following three main paths: One is the study of welfare state retrenchment and fiscal austerity. A second path is the study of the tax mix and its relation with welfare state generosity; and the third is the study of tax expenditures as a parallel device of implementing social and welfare policy. This panel belongs to a fourth frontier of the fiscal/social nexus, which is just beginning to emerge and has been recently named the fiscal-centered perspective on welfare state development. All the papers featured in this panel show how social insurance has assumed fiscal and economic roles, and how these roles have impacted the development of social insurance programs