The "European social model" includes: a welfare regime with generous social expenditure; high employment or income protection; a well-developed system of industrial relations; involvement of social partners in policy-making. Within the Italian social model, however, one can find three major...

In the post-WWII period, industrial relations in advanced economies have gone through three main stages of development. During the first stage, corresponding to the rise of the Keynesian welfare state, two distinct models of regulation of labour emerged. What has been called the...

In the first part, this article examines the new trends in the regulation of work brought about by recent changes in the economy. Contrary to received wisdom, what is taking place in most European economies is not a generalized employers' attack on negotiation as the key normative source in the...

This article examines recent developments in three key policy areas, namely labour market regulation, wage bargaining, and social security. By focusing on changes in these policies in ten European countries, it shows that they have moved in different directions, though not in a consistent manner...

This paper argues that the political economy and neo-institutionalistliteratures are now at a critical juncture. The traditional emphasis on comparative studies of different models of capitalism may in fact be giving way to longitudinal analyses of long-term trends common to all advanced...

Despite having succeeded in passing important and even epochal reforms(health care, financial sector) and avoided the US economy falling in a depressive spiral, the Obama Administration and the Democrats were heavily punished at the mid-term elections of November 2010. What went wrong? This...

In the last twelve years the US has experienced a remarkable productivity revival. This has allowed the United States to speed ahead of other major advanced economies. The article explores the contribution provided by the US government and Congress to the nurturing of the new economy. In...

The US welfare is evolving along an unsustainable path. By 2050 the share of the federal welfare programs alone will approach 25% of GDP, i.e. a share higher than the current share of the federal government in the economy. Because of the strain that the growing pension and public health programs...

During the Clinton and Bush administrations the US economy has performed better than the other major OECD countries, widening again the GDP gap that had narrowed during previous decades. However, this outcome has been achieved at the price of large imbalances: the federal government position has...