IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cdl/indrel/qt92x040tt.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Politics of an Experimental Society: Creating Labor Market Flexibility in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Schulze-Cleven, Tobias

Abstract

In the quest for economic growth, rich democracies’ governments have embraced the goal of creating labor market flexibility. To that end, they have pursued simultaneous changes in the three main institutional realms structuring modern welfare capitalism – the industrial relations system, the set of labor market regulations and the welfare state. While commonly framed as the removal of workers’ social protections, the politics of labor market adjustment continue to differ in unexpected ways across diverse national contexts. This paper introduces the analytical tools for a comparative analysis of the quest for labor market flexibility in the United Kingdom, Germany and Denmark. Among a set of alternative perspectives on national variation during the last three decades, the paper stresses the importance of inherited institutional arrangements for social protection. Systems built around occupational status preservation tend to block measures that could increase labor market flexibility, while those offering universal provisions based on citizenship can help achieve flexibility in the labor market. This perspective puts into question the dominant frame of associating the achievement of labor flexibility with the removal of social protections. It indicates that – even in today’s post-Keynesian world – social protection does not have to be economically harmful. If substantiated by further research, these findings have obvious implications for the United States, another rich democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Schulze-Cleven, Tobias, 2006. "The Politics of an Experimental Society: Creating Labor Market Flexibility in Europe," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt92x040tt, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:indrel:qt92x040tt
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/92x040tt.pdf;origin=repeccitec
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Streeck, Wolfgang, 1999. "Competitive solidarity: Rethinking the European social model," MPIfG Working Paper 99/8, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    2. repec:oxf:wpaper:049 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Marsden, David, 1999. "A Theory of Employment Systems: Micro-Foundations of Societal Diversity," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198294221.
    4. Layard, Richard & Nickell, Stephen & Jackman, Richard, 2005. "Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199279173.
    5. George J. Stigler, 1971. "The Theory of Economic Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 2(1), pages 3-21, Spring.
    6. Ruggie, John Gerard, 1982. "International regimes, transactions, and change: embedded liberalism in the postwar economic order," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(2), pages 379-415, April.
    7. David Ellerman, 2005. "The two institutional logics: exit-oriented versus commitment-oriented institutional designs," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 147-168.
    8. Dani Rodrik, 1998. "Why Do More Open Economies Have Bigger Governments?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(5), pages 997-1032, October.
    9. Cohen, Stephen S & Zysman, John & DeLong, Bradford J, 2000. "Tools for Thought: What is New and Important about the "E-conomy"?," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt0c97w1gn, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    10. Thelen,Kathleen, 2004. "How Institutions Evolve," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521546744, November.
    11. Cameron, David R., 1978. "The Expansion of the Public Economy: A Comparative Analysis," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(4), pages 1243-1261, December.
    12. Weaver, R. Kent, 1986. "The Politics of Blame Avoidance," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(4), pages 371-398, October.
    13. Robert Boyer, 2004. "The Future of Economic Growth," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3261.
    14. Trampusch, Christine, 2005. "Sequenzorientierte Policy-Analyse: Warum die Rentenreform von Walter Riester nicht an Reformblockaden scheiterte," MPIfG Working Paper 05/3, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    15. Eliasson, Gunnar, 2004. "Managament in a New and Experimentally Organized Economy," Ratio Working Papers 51, The Ratio Institute.
    16. Anke Hassel, 2003. "The Politics of Social Pacts," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(4), pages 707-726, December.
    17. Siebert, Horst, 1997. "Labor market rigidities and unemployment in Europe," Kiel Working Papers 787, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    18. Crepaz, Markus M. L., 2002. "Duane Swank, Global Capital, Political Institutions, and Policy Change in Developed Welfare States. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(01), pages 101-106, January.
    19. Edward Lorenz & Antoine Valeyre, 2004. "Organisational Change in Europe: National Models or the Diffusion of a New "One Best Way"?," DRUID Working Papers 04-04, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    20. Dani Rodrik, 1998. "Has Globalization Gone Too Far?," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 81-94, March.
    21. Dossani, Rafiq & Kenney, Martin, 2003. "Went for Cost, Stayed for Quality?: Moving the Back Office to India," UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, Working Paper Series qt0b7764tt, UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, UC Berkeley.
    22. Swank,Duane, 2002. "Global Capital, Political Institutions, and Policy Change in Developed Welfare States," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521806688, November.
    23. Esping-Andersen, Gosta, 1999. "Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198742005.
    24. Jonah D. Levy, 1999. "Vice into Virtue? Progressive Politics and Welfare Reform in Continental Europe," Politics & Society, , vol. 27(2), pages 239-273, June.
    25. Cohen, Stephen S & Zysman, John & DeLong, Bradford J, 2000. "Tools for Thought: What is New and Important about the "E-conomy"?," UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, Working Paper Series qt0c97w1gn, UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, UC Berkeley.
    26. Andrew Glyn & Stewart Wood, 2000. "New Labour`s Economic Policy," Economics Series Working Papers 49, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    27. Horst Siebert, 1997. "Labor Market Rigidities: At the Root of Unemployment in Europe," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 37-54, Summer.
    28. Swank,Duane, 2002. "Global Capital, Political Institutions, and Policy Change in Developed Welfare States," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521001441, November.
    29. Ellen M. Immergut, 1998. "The Theoretical Core of the New Institutionalism," Politics & Society, , vol. 26(1), pages 5-34, March.
    30. Thelen,Kathleen, 2004. "How Institutions Evolve," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521837682, November.
    31. Guillén, Mauro F., 1994. "Models of Management," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226310367, October.
    32. Hall, Peter A. & Taylor, Rosemary C. R., 1996. "Political science and the three new institutionalisms," MPIfG Discussion Paper 96/6, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Huo, Jingjing, 2015. "How Nations Innovate: The Political Economy of Technological Innovation in Affluent Capitalist Economies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198735847.
    2. Vikas Dixit, 2014. "Relation between Trade Openness, Capital Openness and Government Size in India," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 49(1), pages 1-29, February.
    3. Brady, David & Beckfield, Jason & Seeleib-Kaiser, Martin, 2004. "Economic Globalization and the Welfare State in Affluent Democracies, 1975-1998," Working papers of the ZeS 12/2004, University of Bremen, Centre for Social Policy Research (ZeS).
    4. Kosack, Stephen & Tobin, Jennifer L., 2015. "Which Countries’ Citizens Are Better Off With Trade?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 95-113.
    5. Ehrlich Sean D, 2010. "Who Supports Compensation? Individual Preferences for Trade-Related Unemployment Insurance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-24, April.
    6. Xiao Tan, 2017. "Explaining provincial government health expenditures in China: evidence from panel data 2007–2013," China Finance and Economic Review, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Antonio Sciala' & Paolo Liberati, 2008. "The impact of economic openness on the vertical structure of the public sector," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0085, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    8. Stephanie J. Rickard, 2006. "The Costs of Risk: Examining the Missing Link between Globalization and Social Spending," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp185, IIIS.
    9. Paolo Liberati & Antonio Sciala, 2011. "How economic integration affects the vertical structure of the public sector," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 385-402, December.
    10. Liberati, Paolo, 2007. "Trade Openness, Capital Openness and Government Size," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(2), pages 215-247, August.
    11. Thibault Darcillon, 2013. "What Causes Labor-Market Volatility? The Role of Finance and Welfare State Institutions," Post-Print halshs-00881198, HAL.
    12. Duane Swank, 2015. "The Political Foundations of Redistribution in Post-industrial Democracies," LIS Working papers 653, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    13. Molana, Hassan & Montagna, Catia, 2006. "Aggregate scale economies, market integration, and optimal welfare state policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 321-340, July.
    14. Marques II, Israel, 2018. "Firms and social policy preferences under weak institutions : Evidence from Russia," BOFIT Discussion Papers 7/2018, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    15. Özlem Onaran & Valerie Boesch, 2014. "The Effect of Globalization on the Distribution of Taxes and Social Expenditures in Europe: Do Welfare State Regimes Matter?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(2), pages 373-397, February.
    16. Hassan Molana & Catia Montagna, 2007. "Welfare State, Market Imperfections, and International Trade," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 95-118, February.
    17. repec:zbw:bofitp:2018_007 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Kathleen Thelen, 2009. "Institutional Change in Advanced Political Economies," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(3), pages 471-498, September.
    19. Yong Soo Park, 2005. "The Decline of the Welfare State?," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 8(2), pages 107-134, June.
    20. Brian Burgoon, 2011. "GINI DP 14: Inequality and anti-globalization backlash by political parties," GINI Discussion Papers 14, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    21. Wibbels, Erik, 2006. "Dependency Revisited: International Markets, Business Cycles, and Social Spending in the Developing World," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(2), pages 433-468, April.

    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:cdl:indrel:qt92x040tt. 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: Lisa Schiff (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/irucbus.html .

    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.