Europe Reforms Labour Markets
- Leaders' Perspectives -
1st Edition
Published on 7. March 2016
X, 388 pages
978-3-11-036510-8 (ISBN)
Description
Focusing on the perspectives of policy-makers, the book's purpose is to closely examine the factors that make for successful/unsuccessful labor market related policy reforms. The aim is to reveal the political aspects, namely the chances, challenges and impediments to designing labor market reforms and to establish the conditions under which successful labor market reforms can be advocated, adopted and implemented (process).
The work includes exclusive interviews with twelve former European prime ministers about the labour market reforms they initiated in their respective countries:
- Wolfgang Schüssel
- Anders Fogh Rasmussen
- Andrus Ansip
- François Fillon
- Gerhard Schröder
- Georgios Papandreou
- Mario Monti
- Jan Peter Balkenende
- Jerzy Buzek
- Iveta Radicová
- Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
- Tony Blair
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Aart De Geus | Eric Thode | Christiane Weidenfeld
Europe Reforms Labour Markets
- Leaders' Perspectives -
Book
03/2016
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€99.95
Shipment within 7-9 days
Aart De Geus | Eric Thode | Christiane Weidenfeld
Europe Reforms Labour Markets
- Leaders' Perspectives -
E-Book
03/2016
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€99.95
Available for download
Persons
Aart de Geus, Christiane Weidenfeld, Eric Thode, Bertelsmann-Stiftung.
Content
- Intro
- Contents
- Foreword
- Chapter 1. Introduction
- 1. Aim of this book: providing success factors for labour market, benefit and pension reforms
- 2. A brief recap of welfare state history
- 2.1 Origins of today's welfare states
- 2.2 Causes for the creation of the welfare state
- 2.3 Two conceptual approaches: Bismarck and Beveridge
- 2.4 The 1970s and 1980s: welfare states under pressure
- 2.5 Fall of the Iron Curtain and intensified globalisation
- 3. Worlds of welfare capitalism: a framework for assessing the need for reforms and their successful implementation
- 3.1 General typology
- 3.2 Specific challenges to welfare state models
- 4. The LISC approach: legitimacy, implementation, stakeholders and communication
- 4.1 Legitimacy
- 4.2 Implementation
- 4.3 Stakeholders
- 4.4 Communication
- 5. Structure of the book
- Chapter 2. Interviews with 12 heads of government
- 1. Austria
- 1.1 Interview with Wolfgang Schüssel
- 1.2 A note on Austrian labour market performance over the past decade
- 2. Denmark
- 2.1 Interview with Anders Fogh Rasmussen
- 2.2 A note on Danish labour market performance over the past decade
- 3. Estonia
- 3.1 Interview with Andrus Ansip
- 3.2 A note on Estonian labour market performance over the past decade
- 4. France
- 4.1 Interview with François Fillon
- 4.2 A note on French labour market performance over the past decade
- 5. Germany
- 5.1 Interview with Gerhard Schröder
- 5.2 A note on German labour market performance over the past decade
- 6. Greece
- 6.1 Interview with Georgios Papandreou
- 6.2 A note on Greek labour market performance over the past decade
- 7. Italy
- 7.1 Interview with Mario Monti
- 7.2 A note on Italian labour market performance over the past decade
- 8. The Netherlands
- 8.1 Interview with Jan Peter Balkenende
- 8.2 A note on Dutch labour market performance over the past decade
- 9. Poland
- 9.1 Interview with Jerzy Buzek
- 9.2 A note on Polish labour market performance over the past decade
- 10. Slovakia
- 10.1 Interview with Iveta Radicová
- 10.2 A note on Slovakian labour market performance over the past decade
- 11. Spain
- 11.1 Interview with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
- 11.2 A note on Spanish labour market performance over the past decade
- 12. United Kingdom
- 12.1 Interview with Tony Blair
- 12.2 A note on United Kingdom labour market performance over the past decade
- Chapter 3. Conclusion
- 1. Legitimacy through domestic climate, external pressures and sound evidence
- 1.1 Fiscal consolidation arguments are key to creating a domestic climate conducive to advocating and implementing LMBP reforms
- 1.2 External pressures play a key role in legitimising reforms all over Europe
- 1.3 Sound evidence is at the heart of any compelling justification of LMBP reforms
- 2. Factors for successful implementation
- 2.1 Acknowledging path-dependency and creating the right ecosystem is crucial for successful reforms
- 2.2 Governments must start implementing LMBP reforms immediately upon election
- 2.3 Government cohesion is vital but can be brought about by different leadership approaches
- 3. Consultation and compensation - important issues in stakeholder management
- 3.1 The usefulness of compensating those losing out from reform is highly disputed
- 3.2 Consultation is seen as a key means to ensure that reforms are implemented and sustainable
- 4. Crucial communication in various arenas
- 4.1 A strong and simple narrative is decisive with regard to successfully implementing reforms
- 4.2 Heads of government see as much merit in adopting a catch-all communication approach as in targeting specific audiences
- 4.3 Successful reformers use feedback from the key stakeholders with a view to modifying the thrust of reforms and selling the modifications to the general public
- Chapter 4. Epilogue - Learn from the past to be prepared for the future
- 1. New challenges prompting the next wave of reforms
- 1.1 Growing disparities in the labour market
- 1.2 The digital revolution in the economy
- 1.3 Growing numbers of migrant workers
- 1.4 Ongoing demographic challenges
- 2. Crucial areas for future reform
- 2.1 Countering labour market segmentation
- 2.2 Improving labour market dynamics
- 2.3 Providing adequate social security
- 2.4 Adapting to an ageing population
- 2.5 The future role of social partners
- 3. Resulting challenges along the process dimension
- Bibliography
- Index
