The Changing Political Economies of Small West European Countries (Amsterdam University Press - Changing Welfare States Series)

241 Pages·2012·1.21 MB·English

by  Uwe Becker

Uwe Becker (ed.)
The Changing
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The literature on changing varieties of capitalism concentrates on the big d. in European Countries
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economies, particularly the US, Germany and Japan. The Changing Political
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Economies of Small West European Countries sheds light on the group of a
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smaller European countries that share a high degree of corporatism – c
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and
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Switzerland. Most of them have recently been praised as alternative models
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to the liberal route as exemplified by the US. The authors put the small e C
countries’ political economies in comparative perspective and investigate the h
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trajectories of their welfare systems, corporate governance, labour markets n
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as well as industrial relations from about 1990 until the economic crisis in in
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2008. This volume also discusses typological questions, tracks the position P
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of the small countries in the processes of European integration and asks l
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whether their particular brands of capitalism might be a viable candidate ic
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for the European socio-economic model. l E
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Uwe Becker is associate professor of Political Science at the University of n
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Amsterdam. Previous publications include Employment Miracles m
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(Amsterdam University Press 2005; ed. together with Herman Schwartz), s
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Politicologie. Basisthema’s & Nederlandse politiek (Het Spinhuis 2006; ed. f
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together with P. van Praag), Open Varieties of Capitalism (Palgrave- m
Macmillan 2009) and Het Obama Experiment (Het Spinhuis 2010). al
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isbn 978 90 8964 331 5 r
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www.aup.nl n
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Amsterdam University Press i
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9 789089 643315 s
A m s t e r d a m U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s
the changing political economies
of small west european countries
CHANGING WELFARE STATES
Advanced welfare states seem remarkably stable at fi rst glance. Although
most member states of the European Union (EU) have undertaken com-
prehensive welfare reform, especially since the 1990s, much comparative
welfare state analysis portrays a ‘frozen welfare landscape’. Social spending
is stable. However, if we interpret the welfare state as more than aggregate
social spending and look at long-term trends, we can see profound trans-
formations across several policy areas, ranging from labour market policy
and regulation, industrial relations, social protection, social services like
child care and education, pensions, and long-term care. Th is series is about
trajectories of change. Have there been path-breaking welfare innovations
or simply attempts at political reconsolidation? What new policies have
been added, and with what consequences for competitiveness, employ-
ment, income equality and poverty, gender relations, human capital forma-
tion, and fi scal sustainability? What is the role of the EU in shaping national
welfare state reform? Are advanced welfare states moving in a similar or
even convergent direction, or are they embarking on ever more divergent
trajectories of change? Th ese issues raise fundamental questions about the
politics of reform. If policymakers do engage in major reforms (despite the
numerous institutional, political and policy obstacles), what factors enable
them to do so? While the overriding objective of the series is to trace tra-
jectories of contemporary welfare state reform, the editors also invite the
submission of manuscripts which focus on theorising institutional change
in the social policy arena.
editors of the series
Gøsta Esping-Andersen, University of Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
Anton Hemerijck, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Kees van Kersbergen, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Kimberly Morgan, George Washington University, Washington, USA
Romke van der Veen, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Jelle Visser, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
The Changing Political
Economies of Small
West European Countries
Uwe Becker (ed.)
Cover illustration: Paul Cézanne, The Card Players (Les joueurs de cartes),
1890-1892, oil on canvas
Cover design: Crasborn Grafisch Ontwerpers bno, Valkenburg a/d Geul
Lay-out: V3-Services, Baarn
isbn 978 90 8964 331 5
e-isbn 978 90 4851 454 0
nur 740
© Uwe Becker / Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2011
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced
into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (elec-
tronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the
written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the
book.
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements 9
1 Introduction 11
Uwe Becker
Empirically diverse capitalism and ideal-typical coordinates 13
R ecent contextual changes: globalisation, Europeanisation and
individualisation 18
Some overall political-economic changes: mid-1990s to mid-2000s 26
Institutional change: an attempt to quantify it 29
The contributions 38
2 The Variety of Capitalism in Sweden and Finland: Continuity Through
Change 45
Karl-Oskar Lindgren
The 1990s crisis: a moment for change 47
Economic recovery and the revival of corporatist capitalism 57
Sources of stability and change 64
Conclusion 67
Interviews 70
Appendix: Measures and Data Sources 70
3 Change and Continuity in Danish and Norwegian Capitalism:
Corporatism and Beyond 73
Mikkel Mailand
Introduction 73
The political and economic context of the two countries 74
Change and continuity in industrial relations and corporatism 76
Changes in labour market legislation 79
Changes in the welfare system 82
Changes in corporate governance and the tax regime 87
Conclusions 92

4 Coming Together But Staying Apart: Continuity and Change in the Aus-
trian and Swiss Varieties of Capitalism 99
Alexandre Afonso and André Mach
Introduction 99
Performance and institutional regime 101
Corporate governance and economic regulation 104
Labour market and industrial relations 110
Welfare state 117
Conclusion 122
5 Liberal Convergence, Growing Outcome Divergence? Institutional Con-
tinuity and Changing Trajectories in the ‘Low Countries’ 125
Hester Houwing and Kurt Vandaele
Introduction: historical similarities and differences 125
Industrial relations: changing yet continued social partnership 126
Corporate governance: shareholder influence becomes strengthened 129
Corporatism and competitiveness: centralised wage coordination versus
indirect decentralisation 132
Towards more flexible labour markets 135
Dynamics in the welfare regime: from passive to active 141
Going liberal along different lines? 146
6 Small Countries, Big Countries under Conditions of Europeanisation
and Globalisation 149
Vivien A. Schmidt
Small West European countries in a globalising world 151
Economic openness and political economic institutions 151
Political institutions 155
Political culture 156
Political ideas and discourse 158
The Europeanisation of small West European countries 162
Theorising the impact of Europeanisation on small states 163
Market and monetary pressures of Europeanisation 164
Institutional pressures of Europeanisation 166
New modes of governance 170
Conclusion 170
 THE CHANGING POLITICAL ECONOMIES OF SMALL WEST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
7 The Small Corporatist Political Economies as European Socio-Economic
Model? 173
Uwe Becker and Kees van Kersbergen
The European social model and the European socio-economic model 175
Employment and social performance in international comparison 178
Criticisms 185
Competitive – even if with a little luck! 187
Conclusion and prospects for a European socio-economic model 193
About the Authors 199
Bibliography 203
Index 233
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Preface and Acknowledgements
The intention of this volume is to contribute to the discussion on chang-
ing capitalist political economies and to enhance the empirical knowl-
edge of institutional continuity and change in the small, highly corporatist
political economies in the Alps, the Benelux countries and Scandinavia.
Almost all of these political economies have often been in the spotlight.
Many observers consider them as alternative models for socio-economic
development since they combine competitiveness and a highly developed
welfare system. Remarkably, these small political economies are largely
absent from the literature on capitalist varieties that empirically still fo-
cuses on the US, Britain, France, Germany and Japan. This is an empirical
omission, but also a missed chance for a critical review of the theory of
varieties of capitalism. The character and development of the small coun-
tries’ political economies qualifies very well for this matter.
The volume’s origins can be traced back to the editor’s involvement in
an international 5th Framework research project on The Consensual Politi-
cal Cultures of the Small West European States (2003-2006), his co-edi-
torship (with Herman Schwartz) of the book on Employment “Miracles” in
a few small European countries (Amsterdam University Press 2005) and
his recent participation in the discussion on capitalist varieties as exem-
plified in his book on Open Varieties of Capitalism (Palgrave-Macmillan
2009). The starting shot for the volume was the organization of a work-
shop in Amsterdam in June 2008 and subsequently of a panel at the SASE
conference in San Jose, Costa Rica on “Institutional change and continuity
in the small countries’ political economies”. The locations of these meet-
ings once more illustrated what a privilege it is to have a job in academia.
Discussants and complimentary paper presenters in Amsterdam were
Jean Claude Barbier, Frans Becker, Brian Burgoon, Jeannette Mak, Daniel
Mügge, Arne Niemann, Otto Penz, Els Sol, Jeroen Towen, Barbara Vis,
Jaap Woldendorp and Adrian Zimmermann. Gregory Jackson chaired the
SASE-panel in San Jose. The authors of the volume are indebted to all of
them for their suggestions and criticisms. They have also to thank the two
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