State–Society Relationships, Social Trust and the Development of Labour Market Policies in Italy and Sweden

Abstract

The first decade of the twenty-first century may be remembered for the rebirth of consensus on labour market policy. After three decades of bitter political and ideological controversy between a neo-liberal and a traditional social democratic approach, a new model, often labelled flexicurity, has emerged. This model is promoted by numerous political organisations since it promises to put an end to the old trade-off between equality and efficiency. Several countries are embracing the flexicurity model as a blueprint for labour market reform, but others, mostly belonging to the 'Mediterranean Rim', are clearly lagging behind. Why is it so difficult for these countries to implement the flexicurity model? This paper argues that the application of a flexicurity strategy in these countries is complicated by the lack of social trust between social partners and the state as well as political economy traditions that highlight the role of labour market regulation as a source of social protection.The first decade of the twenty-first century may be remembered for the rebirth of consensus on the welfare state. After three decades of bitter political and ideological controversy between a neo-liberal and a traditional social democratic approach, a new model variously labelled with reference to social investment or the notion of flexicurity has emerged. This new welfare state gives a high priority to employment and focuses on effective, inclusive labour markets. The approach, promoted by academics, the EU, the OECD and other international organisations, promises to simultaneously improve the living conditions of disadvantaged people, and to provide returns for society as a whole, through lower welfare spending and higher tax receipts.In the area of labour market policy, the topic of this paper, emphasis has focused on the so-called flexicurity model. Although there are various definitions of flexicurity, most of them tend to identify a three-pronged strategy aiming to reconcile labour market efficiency and economic security for workers. The model is based on: 1) a highly flexible labour market,

Job security regulations in Western democracies: A fuzzy set analysis

“…It has been identified as an important determinant of high levels of job security regulations in the Nordic managed capitalist countries. Moreover, elsewhere, I have demonstrated that the labour movement is the main agent pushing for further restriction of the managerial prerogative to hire and fire (Bonoli & Emmenegger 2010; Emmenegger, 2010, Forthcoming), thereby confirming the claims of the power resources literature. However, the present analysis has also shown that strong labour movements alone (even in absence of significant institutional veto points) do not lead to extensive job security regulations.…”

Is every country fit for social investment? Italy as an adverse case

“…The result of these complex interactions was 200 different contracts within 20 different regional regulatory frameworks and about 800 professional profiles (Di Monaco and Pilutti, 2012). In synthesis, reforms reinforced the existing fragmented landscape of actors organised at different territorial levels with diverging agendas and often lacking the institutional capacity to adequately coordinate and implement multilevel governance arrangements (Bonoli and Emmenegger, 2010), in particular in southern regions.…”

Business and the development of job security regulations: the case of Germany

“…Second, existing research has yet to provide any support to the claims raised by the VoC literature. Based on case studies of the historical development of JSRs in Denmark, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland, Emmenegger (2010b, c) and Bonoli and Emmenegger (2010) conclude that high levels of JSRs are not the result of business interests but are forced upon employers by radicalized labour movements. However, the case studies fail to include Germany, where business support for JSRs can most likely be expected.…”