Social pacts revisited: 'competitive concertation' and complex causality in negotiated welfare state reforms.
European Journal of Industrial Relations
2005
11
1
March
107-126
social dialogue ; social security reform ; tripartism ; welfare state
Labour relations
English
Bibliogr.
"This article discusses three major issues related to tripartite social pacts: first, the puzzles they present for classic theories of corporatism; second, the contrasts between the political economies of ‘competitive concertation' and Keynesian coordination; and third, the problems of assessing their effects in the context of complex causality. The main focus is on one specific policy area: negotiated welfare state reforms. The conclusion is that though such negotiations have dominated the process of welfare state recalibration in Europe during the 1990s, tripartite social pacts are neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for success."
Paper
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