This chapter analyses patterns of policy change and employment performance in the social models of the Netherlands and Switzerland from the 1990s until about 2012. We outline how these countries have been able to reconcile high employment levels, a lean welfare state and moderate levels of...

This paper provides the scientific framework for the NEWGOV project Distributive Politics, Learning and Reform. In Part I, we establish our own definition and conceptualization of social pacts. We distinguish four types of pacts with different scope and depth: shadow pacts, headline pacts,...

This paper commences with a survey of international trends in union membership, union density and collective bargaining, while focusing on the comparative position of trade unions in Germany. The author considers three hypotheses concerning the development of unionism in recent decades. The...

In this article, the direct role of the state in industrial relations is scrutinized by focusing on the political basis of decisions regarding the minimum wage. We argue that in order to ensure stability and growth, any state must balance the interests of capital and labour when taking this kind...

Using annual data on aggregate union membership and density in fourteen European countries, the authors examine the short-term and long-term determinants of the postwar pattern of union growth anddecline in Western Europe since 1950. In an attempt to explain the observed convergence in trends...

Le present article etudie la dynamique et l'impact des deux campagnes menees par les syndicats aux Pays-Bas pour la reduction du temps de travail (1983-86 et 1994-97). Il examine l'effet de la reduction de la duree du travail sur la capacite et la volonte des syndicats de maintenir une politique...