Documents Daguerre, Anne 5 results

"The role of corporate elites – notably financial elites – has been at the forefront of political debates in Western capitalist societies since the start of the Great Recession in 2008. The major structural unbalances that had accumulated in Anglo-American economies over the last quarter of the 20th century played a key role in the build up to the financial crisis. Taking advantage of the mobility of capital, business elites promoted a model of shareholder capitalism actively backed up by the state. A process of elite competition took place: financial intermediaries acting on behalf of institutional investors marginalized the alliance between traditional managerial elites and workers that had been at the heart of the Keynesian compromise. This contribution outlines the consequences of the unravelling of the 20th century social pact for workers and their families. It concludes by outlining ‘what is to be done' to forge a 21st century social pact. "

"Britain's New Labour Government has placed welfare reform at the top of its political agenda. New Labour has endorsed a radical ‘workfare' agenda in relation to labour market policies. The government no longer aims to secure full employment through direct job creation or Keynesian demand management. Instead, it promotes the notion of equal opportunities for all based on a contract between benefit claimants and the employment service. The New Deal is at the heart of British activation programmes for the unemployed. While American policies have provided a crucial influence on the design of the New Deal, the influence of European programmes has been – and still is – much more limited. The article provides ample evidence of the lack of European–British policy networks and explores the reasons why policy transfer occurs principally from the US rather than from Continental Europe."

"This report draws together evidence from key comparator countries that use active labour market policies to combat unemployment and economic inactivity. The research was commissioned to inform policy making for working age benefit recipients including lone parents, those on incapacity benefits and Jobseeker's Allowance.

The research draws mainly on experience from countries within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that have led in the use of active labour market policies, namely Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands and the US. It assesses the relative merits of the different strategies employed in these countries to provide lessons for the UK and guide policy making to support ongoing welfare reforms for recipients of working age benefits. "