Renegotiating the Welfare State Why have some countries been more successful in welfare state reform than others? Is corporatist concertation experiencing a revival in Europe? Do policy makers in different countries learn from each other and is there a prospect for concertation at the European level? This book examines the experiences of various countries in reforming their welfare states through renegotiations between the state and peak associations of employers and employees. Not too long ago, this corporatist concertation was blamed for bringing about all the ills of the welfare state but since then corporate institutions have learned from their bad perfor- mances, modified their structures and style of operation, and assumed responsibility for welfare state reform. Now, consensual bargaining is back on the agenda of both policy makers and of social science twenty-five years after the start of the corporatist debate. This topical volume with its internationally respected panel of contributors will appeal to all those interested in the welfare state and labour relations. It includes chapters focusing on the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland as well as a section looking at the role of corporatist concertation in the European Union. Frans van Waarden is Professor of Public Policy and Organization at Utrecht University. He has been a Visiting Scholar/Fellow at Stanford University, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies and the European University Institute in Florence. Gerhard Lehmbruch is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the University of Konstanz, Germany, and has been President of the German Political Science Association and Vice-president of the International Political Science Association. Routledge/EUI Studies in the Political Economy of Welfare Series editors: Martin Rhodes and Maurizio Ferrera The European University Institute, Florence, Italy This series presents leading-edge research on the recasting of European welfare states. The series is interdisciplinary, featuring contributions from experts in economics, political science and social policy. The books provide a comparative analysis of topical issues, including: • reforms of the major social programmes – pensions, health, social security • the changing political cleavages in welfare politics • policy convergence and social policy innovation • the impact of globalization 1Immigration and Welfare Challenging the borders of the welfare state Edited by Michael Bommes and Andrew Geddes 2 Renegotiating the Welfare State Flexible adjustment through corporatist concertation Edited by Frans van Waarden and Gerhard Lehmbruch 3 Comparing Welfare Capitalism Social policy and political economy in Europe, Japan and the USA Edited by Bernhard Ebbinghaus and Philip Manow 4 Controlling a New Migration World Edited by Virginie Giraudon and Christian Joppke Renegotiating the Welfare State Flexible adjustment through corporatist concertation Edited by Frans van Waarden and Gerhard Lehmbruch I~ ~~o~f!;n~~;up LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2003 by Routledge Published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 2003 Frans van Waarden and Gerhard Lehmbruch for selection and editorial material; individual contributors for their contributions Typeset in Baskerville by Exe Valley Dataset Ltd, Exeter The Open Access version of this book, available at www.tandfebooks.com, has been made availableunder a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Renegotiating the welfare state: flexible adjustment through corporatist concertation/edited by Frans van Waarden and Gerhard Lehmbruch. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Welfare state. 2. Comparative government. I. Waarden, Frans van, 1950– II. Lehmbruch, Gerhard. JC479.R46 2003 330.12´6—dc21 2002152036 ISBN 978-0-415-22345-4 (hbk) Contents List of illustrations vii List of contributors ix Acknowledgements xi PART I Introduction 1 1Renegotiating the welfare state through corporatist concertation: an introduction 3 FRANS VAN WAARDEN PART II Countries with traditions of corporatist concertation 31 2 The resurgence of Dutch corporatist policy coordination in an age of globalization 33 ANTON HEMERIJCK 3 The societal and historical embeddedness of Dutch corporatism 70 FRANS VAN WAARDEN 4 Austrian social partnership: just a midlife crisis? 97 BRIGITTE UNGER 5 Nordic corporatism and welfare state reforms: Denmark and Sweden compared 114 SVEN JOCHEM 6 Welfare state adjustment between consensual and adversarial politics: the institutional context of reform in Germany 142 GERHARD LEHMBRUCH vi Contents 7 Renegotiating the Swiss welfare state 169 KLAUS ARMINGEON PART III Countries without historical corporatist traditions 189 8 ‘Bargaining Celtic style’: the global economy and negotiated governance in Ireland 191 GEORGE TAYLOR 9 The negotiator as auctioneer. Wage centralization and wage flexibility: a comparison of corporatist and non-corporatist countries 225 COEN TEULINGS PART IV European corporatism? 251 10 Renegotiating social and labour policies in the European multi-level system: any role for corporatist patterns? 253 GERDA FALKNER 11 The renaissance of national corporatism: unintended side-effect of European economic and monetary union, or calculated response to the absence of European social policy? 279 JÜRGEN GROTE AND PHILIPPE SCHMITTER Index 303 Chapter Title vii Illustrations Figures 5.1 Wage growth and centralization of the wage bargaining system in Sweden, 1984–93 124 5.2 Wage growth and centralization of the wage bargaining system in Denmark, 1984–93 130 9.1 Positions on wage demands of employers and employees during negotiations 230 9.2 Specific and aggregate shocks and adjustments of the wage contract 237 Tables 1.1 Varieties of welfare states 4–5 2.1 Economic performance of the Netherlands in comparison to the European Union 35 2.2 Employment growth in the Netherlands, the European Union and selected OECD countries, 1983–2000 35 2.3 Unemployment in the Netherlands, the European Union and selected OECD countries, 1983–99 36 2.4 Incidence of part-time employment in the Netherlands and selected OECD countries, by sex, 1983–99 37 2.5 Employment/population ratios by sex in the Netherlands, the European Union and selected OECD countries, 1983–99 38 2.6 Average annual working hours per employee in the Netherlands and in selected OECD countries, 1973–99 38 2.7 The unemployment and employment/population ratios for men, 55 to 65, 1983–99 39 2.8 Long-term unemployment in the Netherlands and in selected OECD countries, percentage unemployed longer than 12 months, 1983–99 40 3.1 Dutch associability compared to other European countries 79 5.1 Economic performance in Denmark and Sweden 119 viii Illustrations 5.2 Public finances and the welfare state in Denmark and Sweden 120 5.3 Labour market performance in Denmark and Sweden 121 5.4 Major welfare state reforms in Sweden 126–7 5.5 Major welfare state reforms in Denmark 133 7.1 Degree of difficulty in macro-economic steering and centralization of public finances, 1995 181 8.1 At what level is basic pay determined? 202 8.2 Breakdown of clause 3 agreements 202 8.3 How the 3 per cent was applied 203 8.4 Has there been a change in the use of the following working arrangements over last three years? 204 8.5 Number of strikes and working days lost during a six-year period of decentralized wage bargaining, 1982–7 204 8.6 Number of strikes and work days lost during the six-year period of PNR/PESP (1988–93) 205 8.7 Number of strikes which commenced in the period of 1987–91 205 8.8 Days lost due to strikes in the period 1987–91 205 8.9 Settlement of industrial disputes in the public and private sector 206 8.10 Industrial disputes, 1993–8 207 9.1 The distribution of incidental wage increases in the Netherlands, 1991–2 231 9.2 Different forms of wage adjustment in economies with various institutions 238 Chapter Title ix Contributors Klaus Armingeon is Professor in Political Science and Department Chair at the University of Berne, Switzerland. He studied political science and history at the University of Tübingen, got his PhD at the University of Konstanz and his Habilitation in Heidelberg. He also worked at the University of Mannheim. He has published extensively on corporatist incomes policy, trade unions, labour relations, media and democracy, globalization and the nation state, and German, Swiss and Austrian politics and political institu- tions. Gerda Falkner is Professor at the University of Cologne and connected to the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in the same city. Formerly she worked at the University of Vienna. She wrote a Habilitation on European social policy and has published on corporatism, social policy, the welfare state and European integration. Jürgen Grote is researcher at the University of Konstanz in Germany. He studied in Marburg, London (LSE), and the European University Institute in Florence, and held earlier positions in Brussels (European Commission) the EUI in Florence and Mannheim. He has published on organized interests, Italian politics, regional policy, European integration and policy networks. Anton Hemerijck is Vice-director of the Scientific Advisory