We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Protecting the unemployed: varieties of unionism and the evolution of unemployment benefits and active labor market policy in the rich democracies.
- Authors
Gordon, Joshua C.
- Abstract
The rich democracies vary widely in the amount of public resources they devote to assisting the unemployed. This article puts forward a theory of cross-national policy differences, using indicators of unemployment benefit generosity and active labor market policy spending for the period from 1985 to 2005. Contesting recent research that downplays the impact of unions on policy outcomes, the author argues that variations in unionism are the central explanatory factor behind these differences in unemployment protection. Specifically, three aspects of different union movements are highlighted: union density, union centralization, and relative involvement in unemployment benefit administration. The article presents an index of ‘inclusive unionism’ that can explain the bulk of variation in unemployment protection generosity. This work builds on earlier power resource theory and challenges the explanations of labor market policy advanced by varieties of capitalism and insider-outsider theory.
- Subjects
UNEMPLOYMENT; LABOR market; CROSS-cultural differences; ENTERPRISE unions; CAPITALISM
- Publication
Socio-Economic Review, 2015, Vol 13, Issue 1, p79
- ISSN
1475-1461
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/ser/mwu029