The trend towards activation has been one of the major issues in recent welfare and labour market reforms in Europe and the US. Despite considerable initial variation across national models with respect to the scope and intensity of activation, redefining the link between social protection and...

Japanese and Korean labor markets and social protections in a comparative perspective -- The politics of labor market reform in hard times : a theoretical framework -- The institutional origins of labor markets and social protections in Japan and Korea -- Japan : liberalization for outsiders,...

Jiyeoun Song focuses on South Korea and Japan, which have advanced labor market reform and confronted the rapid rise of a split in labor markets between protected regular workers and underprotected and underpaid nonregular workers.