IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jlabrs/v48y2015i2d10.1007_s12651-015-0180-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The politics of incremental change: institutional change in old-age pensions and health care in Germany
[Die Politik der schrittweisen Veränderung: Institutioneller Wandel bei Altersrenten und Gesundheitsversorgung in Deutschland]

Author

Listed:
  • Karen M. Anderson

    (University of Southampton)

Abstract

This paper analyzes policy shifts in two core welfare state programs in Germany: old-age pensions and health care. Both programs are prototypes of Bismarckian/conservative program design (benefits are based on occupational and family status; financing is based on payroll contributions, and administration is based on corporatist arrangements) and both have experienced tremendous cost pressures because of demographic change and rising non-wage labor costs. A series of reforms since the late 1980s has reduced the generosity of benefits and aims to change the governance structures of both programs. Although the reforms include substantial benefit cuts, key conservative principles concerning benefit entitlement and financing remain largely untouched. In both programs, derived rights based on family status remain strong, and occupational fragmentation continues to characterize the overall structure of both systems. The paper argues that this pattern of institutional change is not new, but is typical of the politics of muddling through that has characterized the German system since its inception. I emphasize the impact of German political institutions, the structure of electoral competition, and the legacies of conservative social policy to explain the contemporary pattern of policy development.

Suggested Citation

  • Karen M. Anderson, 2015. "The politics of incremental change: institutional change in old-age pensions and health care in Germany [Die Politik der schrittweisen Veränderung: Institutioneller Wandel bei Altersrenten und Gesu," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 48(2), pages 113-131, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jlabrs:v:48:y:2015:i:2:d:10.1007_s12651-015-0180-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s12651-015-0180-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12651-015-0180-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12651-015-0180-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anderson, Karen M. & Meyer, Traute, 2003. "Social Democracy, Unions, and Pension Politics in Germany and Sweden," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 23-54, January.
    2. Trampusch, Christine, 2009. "Der erschöpfte Sozialstaat: Transformation eines Politikfeldes," Schriften aus dem Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Köln, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, volume 66, number 66.
    3. Bruno Palier & Kathleen Thelen, 2010. "Institutionalizing Dualism: Complementarities and Change in France and Germany," Politics & Society, , vol. 38(1), pages 119-148, March.
    4. Gerlinger, Thomas, 2002. "Zwischen Korporatismus und Wettbewerb: Gesundheitspolitische Steuerung im Wandel," Discussion Papers, Research Group Public Health P 02-204, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    5. Schludi, Martin, 2005. "The Reform of Bismarckian Pension Systems," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9789053567401.
    6. Schmidt, Manfred G., 1987. "West Germany: The Policy of the Middle Way," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 135-177, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vitols, Katrin & Gabriel, Steffen, 2020. "Branchenanalyse Sozialversicherungsträger: Veränderungen auf Arbeit, Beschäftigung und Leistungsanforderungen durch Digitalisierung und Organisationsstrategien," Working Paper Forschungsförderung 195, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pablo del Rio Loira & Menno Fenger, 2019. "Spanish trade unions against labour market reforms: strategic choices and outcomes," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 25(4), pages 421-435, November.
    2. Schmidt, Manfred G., 2001. "Parteien und Staatstätigkeit," Working papers of the ZeS 02/2001, University of Bremen, Centre for Social Policy Research (ZeS).
    3. Leone Leonida & Marianna Marra & Sergio Scicchitano & Antonio Giangreco & Marco Biagetti, 2020. "Estimating the Wage Premium to Supervision for Middle Managers in Different Contexts: Evidence from Germany and the UK," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(6), pages 1004-1026, December.
    4. Busemeyer, Marius R., 2011. "Varieties of cross-class coalitions in the politics of dualization: Insights from the case of vocational training in Germany," MPIfG Discussion Paper 11/13, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    5. Eichhorst, Werner & Tobsch, Verena, 2015. "Not so standard anymore? : employment duality in Germany (Vom Normalarbeitsverhältnis zu atypischen Verträgen? : die Dualisierung des deutschen Arbeitsmarktes)," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 48(2), pages 81-95.
    6. Waitkus, Nora & Minkus, Lara, 2021. "Investigating the gender wealth gap across occupational classes," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108206, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Höpner, Martin & Seeliger, Martin, 2017. "Transnationale Lohnkoordination zur Stabilisierung des Euro? Gab es nicht, gibt es nicht, wird es nicht geben," MPIfG Discussion Paper 17/13, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    8. Poteraj, Jarosław, 2008. "Pension systems in 27 EU countries," MPRA Paper 31053, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Höpner, Martin & Baccaro, Lucio, 2022. "Das deutsche Wachstumsmodell, 1991-2019," MPIfG Discussion Paper 22/9, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    10. Torben Krings, 2021. "‘Good’ Bad Jobs? The Evolution of Migrant Low-Wage Employment in Germany (1985–2015)," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(3), pages 527-544, June.
    11. Irene DINGELDEY & Jean‐Yves GERLITZ, 2022. "Not just black and white, but different shades of grey: Legal segmentation and its effect on labour market segmentation in Europe," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 161(4), pages 593-613, December.
    12. Imre Szabó, 2013. "Between polarization and statism – effects of the crisis on collective bargaining processes and outcomes in Hungary," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 19(2), pages 205-215, May.
    13. Gerber, Christine, 2022. "Gender and precarity in platform work: Old inequalities in the new world of work," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 206-230.
    14. Niccolo Durazzi, 2015. "Inclusive unions in a dualised labour market? The challenge of organising labour market policy and social protection for labour market outsiders," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 99, European Institute, LSE.
    15. David Marsden, 2015. "The future of the German industrial relations model [Die Zukunft des deutschen Modells der Arbeitsbeziehungen]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 48(2), pages 169-187, August.
    16. Weisstanner, David, 2019. "Insiders under pressure: Flexible employment and wage inequality," INET Oxford Working Papers 2019-06, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    17. Benassi, Chiara & Dorigatti, Lisa & Pannini, Elisa, 2018. "Explaining divergent bargaining outcomes for agency workers: the role of labour divides and labour market reforms," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 89371, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Ochsenfeld, Fabian, 2018. "The Relational Nature of Employment Dualization: Evidence from Subcontracting Establishments," SocArXiv ta4r6, Center for Open Science.
    19. Gianluca Busilacchi & Giovanni Gallo & Matteo Luppi, 2022. "I would like to but I cannot. The determinants of involuntary part-time employment: Evidence from Italy," Center for the Analysis of Public Policies (CAPP) 0177, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    20. Luca Michele Cigna, 2022. "Looking for a North Star? Ideological justifications and trade unions’ preferences for a universal basic income," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(2), pages 129-146, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jlabrs:v:48:y:2015:i:2:d:10.1007_s12651-015-0180-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.