IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/treure/v28y2022i2p195-210.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unemployment benefit governance, trade unions and outsider protection in conservative welfare states

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Clegg

    (School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, UK)

  • Elke Heins

    (School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, UK)

  • Philip Rathgeb

    (School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, UK)

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between trade union governance roles in unemployment benefit systems, their power resources and their capacity to counteract liberalising and dualising trends in the labour market in conservative welfare states with compulsory unemployment insurance. Against received wisdom, this article argues that in the 21st century trade unions in continental Europe have generally sought to combat the dualism to which their welfare states and labour markets are institutionally susceptible. In this context, a role in the operation of unemployment benefit systems and related forms of institutional power could help unions to attain the enhanced outsider protection they seek. But different modes of union involvement in public policy produce different levels of institutional power, and help to condition its impact on policy development over time. This article illustrates these points with a comparison of the recent development of labour market policy and regulation in Austria, France and Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Clegg & Elke Heins & Philip Rathgeb, 2022. "Unemployment benefit governance, trade unions and outsider protection in conservative welfare states," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(2), pages 195-210, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:28:y:2022:i:2:p:195-210
    DOI: 10.1177/10242589221094240
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10242589221094240
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/10242589221094240?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. Martin Behrens & Andreas Pekarek, 2021. "Divided We Stand? Coalition Dynamics in the German Union Movement," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 503-531, June.
    2. Bruno Palier & Kathleen Thelen, 2010. "Institutionalizing Dualism: Complementarities and Change in France and Germany," Politics & Society, , vol. 38(1), pages 119-148, March.
    3. Thelen,Kathleen, 2014. "Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107679566, October.
    4. Torsten Müller & Thorsten Schulten & Jan Drahokoupil, 2022. "Job retention schemes in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic – different shapes and sizes and the role of collective bargaining," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(2), pages 247-265, May.
    5. Rueda, David, 2007. "Social Democracy Inside Out: Partisanship and Labor Market Policy in Advanced Industrialized Democracies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199234059.
    6. Jayeon Lindellee & Tomas Berglund, 2022. "The Ghent system in transition: unions’ evolving role in Sweden’s multi-pillar unemployment benefit system," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(2), pages 211-227, May.
    7. Thelen,Kathleen, 2014. "Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107053168, October.
    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. Tomas Berglund & Torsten Müller & Tomas Berglund & Torsten Müller & Tomas Berglund & Torsten Müller, 2022. "Editorial and Introduction," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(2), pages 157-179, May.

    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. 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.
    2. Arthur Corazza, 2020. "Power, interest and insecurity: A comparative analysis of workplace dualization and inclusion in Europe," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 153, European Institute, LSE.
    3. Hertog, Steffen, 2020. "Segmented market economies in the Arab world: the political economy of insider-outsider divisions," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103677, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Fleckenstein, Timo & Lee, Soohyun Christine, 2018. "Organised labour, dualisation and labour market reform:Korean trade union in economic and social crisis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 86340, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Werner Eichhorst & Paul Marx, 2021. "How stable is labour market dualism? Reforms of employment protection in nine European countries," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(1), pages 93-110, March.
    6. Xavier St‐Denis & Matissa Hollister, 2023. "Two paths towards job instability: Comparing changes in the distribution of job tenure duration in the United Kingdom and Germany, 1984–2014," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(3), pages 723-751, September.
    7. David Weisstanner, 2017. "Dualization and inequality revisited: Temporary employment regulation and middle-class incomes," LIS Working papers 720, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    8. Lisa Dorigatti & Roberto Pedersini, 2021. "Industrial relations and inequality: the many conditions of a crucial relationship," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 27(1), pages 11-27, February.
    9. 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.
    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. Ochsenfeld, Fabian, 2018. "The Relational Nature of Employment Dualization: Evidence from Subcontracting Establishments," SocArXiv ta4r6, Center for Open Science.
    12. Jesper Prytz & Tomas Berglund, 2023. "Disruption of the Ghent effect: Disentangling structural and institutional determinants of union membership decline in Sweden, 2005–2010," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(6), pages 471-494, November.
    13. Guglielmo Meardi & Melanie Simms & Duncan Adam, 2021. "Trade unions and precariat in Europe: Representative claims," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(1), pages 41-58, March.
    14. Gregory Jackson, 2016. "Toward a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Institutional Change in Japanese Capitalism: Structural Transformations and Organizational Diversity," Working Papers halshs-01643921, HAL.
    15. Martin Behrens & Andreas Pekarek, 2021. "Divided We Stand? Coalition Dynamics in the German Union Movement," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 503-531, June.
    16. Marius R Busemeyer & Martin B Carstensen & Patrick Emmenegger, 2022. "Orchestrators of coordination: Towards a new role of the state in coordinated capitalism?," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(2), pages 231-250, June.
    17. Hiroaki Richard Watanabe, 2018. "Labour Market Dualism and Diversification in Japan," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(3), pages 579-602, September.
    18. Martin Behrens & Andreas Pekarek, 2023. "Delivering the goods? German industrial relations institutions during the COVID‐19 crisis," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 126-144, April.
    19. Duane Swank, 2015. "The Political Foundations of Redistribution in Post-industrial Democracies," LIS Working papers 653, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    20. Paulo Marques & Dora Fonseca, 2022. "Understanding the positions taken by moderate union confederations and centre-left parties during labour market reforms in Portugal and Spain: Why the configuration of left parties and trade union con," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(1), pages 65-84, March.

    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:sae:treure:v:28:y:2022:i:2:p:195-210. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.