Skip to:Content
|
Bottom
Cover image for Taxation, wage bargaining and unemployment
Title:
Taxation, wage bargaining and unemployment
Personal Author:
Series:
Cambridge studies in comparative politics
Publication Information:
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2006
ISBN:
9780521857420

Available:*

Library
Item Barcode
Call Number
Material Type
Item Category 1
Status
Searching...
30000010148315 HC240 M37 2006 Open Access Book Book
Searching...

On Order

Summary

Summary

Why were European economies able to pursue the simultaneous commitment to full employment and welfare state expansion during the first decades of the postwar period and why did this virtuous relationship break down during recent decades? This book provides an answer to this question, by highlighting the critical importance of a political exchange between unions and governments, premised on wage moderation in exchange for the expansion of social services and transfers. The strategies pursued by these actors in these political exchanges are influenced by existing wage bargaining institutions, the character of monetary policy and by the level and composition of social policy transfers. The book demonstrates that the gradual growth in the fiscal burden has undermined the effectiveness of this political exchange, lowering the ability of unions' wage policies to affect employment outcomes.


Author Notes

Isabela Mares is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford University


Reviews 1

Choice Review

Mares (Stanford Univ.) argues that the growth of the welfare state and the taxes it requires have made it more difficult to conduct the kinds of economic bargaining that allowed the wealthy democracies to minimize unemployment rates in the 1950s-60s. Combining advanced statistical techniques and detailed case studies of Sweden, Germany, and Britain since WW II, Mares argues that increasing payroll taxes have made it much harder for unions to restrain employers' wage costs. Nations more successfully restrain joblessness when union-employer bargaining is very centralized or very decentralized. Sweden, where employer-union wage negotiations are highly centralized, has coped with the growing pressures of economic change and the welfare state relatively successfully. Germany has experienced higher unemployment because wage negotiations are conducted at the industry level. Britain has enjoyed a relatively good employment record because negotiations are extremely decentralized; by reducing union power, Britain also encouraged greater wage inequality and worker dependence on labor markets. This smart, skillful study complements Mares' excellent The Politics of Social Risk (CH, Mar'04, 41-4140). ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Graduate and research collections. D. B. Robertson University of Missouri--St. Louis


Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tablesp. xii
List of Abbreviationsp. xv
Acknowledgmentsp. xvii
Introduction: Does the Welfare State Hurt Employment?p. 1
Developments in European Labor Markets: Two Theoretical Perspectivesp. 3
The Argumentp. 10
The Organization of the Studyp. 15
1 The Economic and Political Consequences of Welfare State Maturationp. 17
Labor Market Institutions and Economic Performancep. 19
Labor Market Institutions and Monetary Policyp. 27
A Theoretical Synthesis: Labor Market Institutions, Monetary Policies, and the Welfare Statep. 35
Looking Aheadp. 47
Appendixp. 50
1 Equilibrium Prices and Consumptionp. 50
2 Derivation of Trade Unions' Optimal Wage Demandsp. 52
3 Proofs of Comparative Statics Resultsp. 56
4 Centralization of the Wage Bargaining System: A Comparison with the Calmfors-Driffill Approachp. 58
2 A Quantitative Analysisp. 61
Testing the Model: Measurement of the Central Explanatory Variablesp. 62
The Dependent Variable: The Employment Performance of OECD Economiesp. 71
Conclusionsp. 81
3 Swedenp. 83
Policy Developments in the Immediate Postwar Yearsp. 84
The Rehn-Meidner Modelp. 87
Wage and Social Policy Developments of the 1960sp. 94
Strains on the System: Interunion Rivalry, 1970-1976p. 100
Policy Developments Under Conservative Governments, 1976-1982p. 104
The Return of the Social Democrats, 1982-1990p. 108
The Double Sacrifice: Wage and Social Policy Developments of the 1990sp. 115
Conclusionp. 126
4 Germanyp. 128
The Wage-Social Policy Nexus During the Adenauer-Erhard Period, 1950-1966p. 129
Wage Bargaining and Social Policy Developments Under the Grand Coalition, 1966-1969p. 142
Wage Bargaining and Social Policy Expansion in the Brandt Era, 1969-1974p. 146
Wage Bargaining and Social Policy Developments Under the Social-Liberal Coalition, 1974-1982p. 151
The Consequences of Welfare State Maturation: Wage and Social Policy Developments, 1982-1990p. 160
The Aftermath of German Reunification, 1990-1997p. 167
Conclusionsp. 172
5 Britainp. 174
Wage Developments of the Postwar Years, 1945-1950p. 175
Social Policy and Wage Moderation Under the Conservatives, 1951-1964p. 179
The Labor Government, 1964-1970p. 188
Conservatives Again, 1970-1974p. 194
The Social Contract, 1974-1979p. 199
The Conservative Attack on the Social Wage, 1980-1996p. 206
Welfare State and Labor Market Reforms Under New Labourp. 213
Conclusionp. 217
Conclusion: New Social Pacts in Contemporary Europep. 219
The Theoretical Argumentp. 220
Implications for the Politics of New Social Pactsp. 223
Referencesp. 231
Indexp. 253
Go to:Top of Page