This contribution intends to discuss the various meanings and the consistency of the now popular policy principle of “flexicurity” by using a specific theoretical approach ; the “Transitional Labour Markets” (TLM). The text is organised in three sections. First, we intend to get inside...

The French system of social protection, contrary to many simplistic accounts, has undergone quite a great number of reforms in the past 30 years. This were very differentiated across sectors but also appear as linked to the business cycle. The French system, in its present developments does not...

We show the existence of a twin peaks relation between trust and the size of the welfare state that stems from two opposing forces. Uncivic people support large welfare states because they expect to benefit from them without bearing their costs. But civic individuals support generous benefits...

This paper aims to shed light on the role of the "ideology" of political parties in shaping the evolution of the welfare state in 18 developed democracies, by providing empirical findings on the determinants of social programs entitlements and social spending over the period 1981-1999. The paper...

Although the crisis of the Welfare State has been evoked for quite a long time, figures show that such a phenomenon has arisen only recently. Furthermore, it is not a common feature in all developed countries. This paper aims at explaining these two empirical facts. We use an overlapping...

In this paper, we bring to light the link between immigration in France and the appeal to its welfare system: familial assistance, retirement, health, housing assistance, unemployment benefits and RMI (the French Minimum Guaranteed Income). Our results show that when we control for differences...

La cohesión social, concepto especialmente valorado como expresión y resultado del modelo social europeo y asociado al significado del estado de bienestar, quiere transmitir un conjunto de valores como el sentido de pertenencia, equilibrios en la gestión de los asuntos públicos, control de...

The promotion of Life Long Learning (LLL) has become a high priority in the economic and social agenda of OECD countries. It is considered as one of the corner stones of the "active welfare state". Several countries have introduced (or at least experimented) Individual Learning Accounts as a way...

Does immigration reduce natives' support for the welfare state? Evidence from the European Social Survey (2002/2003) suggests a more qualified relation. For Europe as a whole, there is only weak evidence of a negative association between the perceived presence of immigrants and natives' support...

The aim of this paper is to discuss the relevance of «making work pay» policies from within. We first discuss the various justifications of the motto and then connect them to the existing variety of implementation experiences in Europe. We compare the classical organization of arguments behind...