Comparing Welfare Capitalism: Social Policy and Political Economy in Europe, Japan and the USA

This book challenges the popular thesis of a downward trend in the viability of welfare states in competitive market economies. With approaches ranging from historical case studies to cross-national analyses, the contributors explore various aspects of the relationships between welfare states, industrial relations, financial government and production systems. Building upon and combining comparative studies of both the varieties of capitalism and the worlds of welfare state regimes, the book considers issues such as the role of employers and unions in social policy, the interdependencies between financial markets and pension systems, and the current welfare reform process. Comparing Welfare Capitalism sheds new light on the tenuous relationship between social policies and market economies.Part I The origins and development of welfare capitalism 1 Introduction: studying varieties of welfare capitalism Bernhard Ebbinghaus and Philip Manow Part II Industrial relations and welfare state regimes 1 Introduction: studying varieties of welfare capitalism Bernhard Ebbinghaus and Philip Manow 2 Business coordination, wage bargaining and the welfare state: Germany and Japan in comparative historical perspective Philip Manow 3 Strategic bargaining and social policy development: unemployment insurance in France and Germany Isabela Mares 4 When labour and capital collude: the political economy of early retirement in Europe, Japan and the USA Bernhard Ebbinghaus 5 Welfare state regimes and industrial relations systems: the questionable role of path dependency theory Colin Crouch 6 Social partnership, welfare state regimes and working time in Europe Hugh Compston 7 The governance of the employment-welfare relationship in Britain and Germany Anke Hassel Part III Pension regimes and financial systems 8 Between financial commitment, market liquidity and corporate governance: occupational pensions in Britain, Germany, Japan and the USA Gregory Jackson and Sigurt Vitols 9 The forgotten link: the financial regulation of Japanese pensions funds in comparative perspective Margarita Estevez-Abe Part IV The political economy of welfare state reform 10 The experience of negotiated reforms in the Dutch and German welfare states Anton Hemerijck and Philip Manow 11 The challenge of de-industrialisation: divergent ideological responses to welfare state reform Anne Wren 12 Employment and the welfare state: a continental dilemma Fritz W. Scharpf Part V Conclusions 13 The politics of elective affinities: a commentary Michael Shalev 14 Varieties of welfare capitalism: an outlook on future directions of research Bernhard Ebbinghaus and PhilipMano