Redesigning the Welfare State argues that the current high level of unemployment in Germany not only creates a major challenge for the German welfare state, but is to a good extent caused by the way the country's welfare system is designed. - The authors review the public debate on labour market...

The area-wide wage agreement is at the centre of Germany's system of collective bargaining. In recent years, however, there has been a tendency towards the decentralisation of collective bargaining. Individual wage agreements have led to more moderate wage developments, whilst wage agreements...