Skills and Inequality

Reviews / Votes

'In this path-breaking book, Busemeyer argues that educational policy should be seen as an integral part of the welfare state, with major consequences for our understanding of inequality. Using an impressive combination of macro-historical and micro-statistical evidence, Busemeyer shows how partisan governments led countries down distinct institutional paths, and how these paths now shape distributive outcomes. This is a book about education, but it is also a book about the perhaps most pressing issue of our time: rising inequality.' Torben Iversen, Harvard University 'Skills and Inequality reveals how seemingly technical choices in education policy have crucial reverberations for the design of welfare states, managed capitalism, class conflict, public regard for government and inequality. In an echo of Gosta Esping-Andersen's game-changing formulation of three worlds of welfare capitalism, Marius Busemeyer vividly illuminates the profound impacts of three worlds of education institutions: general education, school-based vocational training, and dual apprenticeship systems. This original and important book opens our minds to a central but understudied aspect of the welfare state and, just as Esping-Andersen did a generation before, is destined to alter the field of comparative political economy.' Cathie Jo Martin, former Chair of the Council for European Studies 'This book is invaluable as it aims at reconciling comparative welfare state with scholarly work on education and training systems. The combination of masterly theoretical reflection, rigorous statistical analysis and case study research is social science at its best and a must-have for every bookshelf.' Herbert Obinger, The Center for Social Policy, University of Bremen 'This is a remarkable book on a very important topic. Busemeyer's Skills and Inequality elegantly integrates analyses of welfare capitalism and educational systems into an argument that helps us better understand the politics of inequality. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, this book represents a significant contribution to the literature on the comparative political economy of industrialised democracies. Busemeyer's careful research is a must-read for those who care about the determinants of inequality.' David Rueda, Oxford University