Is there a relation between welfare state regimes and national wage setting systems? Peter Swenson in his research on the historical dynamics of the US-American and Swedish welfare state has recently claimed that such a relation does indeed exist. The essay aims to check if this also holds true...

Introduction : studying varieties of welfare capitalism / Bernhard Ebbinghaus and Philip Manow -- Business coordination, wage bargaining and the welfare state : Germany and Japan in comparative historical perspective / Philip Manow -- Strategic bargaining and social policy development :...