Employment 'Miracles': A Critical Comparison of the Dutch, Scandinavian, Swiss, Australian and Irish Cases versus Germany and the US

edited by Uwe Becker and Herman Schwartz

Amsterdam University Press, 2005
eISBN: 978-90-485-0383-4 | Paper: 978-90-5356-755-5
Library of Congress Classification HD5713.E4674 2005
Dewey Decimal Classification 100

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Why did some economies experience a boom in the 1990s? Discussing this crucial question, Employment 'Miracles' comparatively analyzes select "miracle" economies. The contributors critically analyze how the small sizes and institutional structures of seven countries—including the Netherlands, Denmark, and Ireland—accounted for their success and their status as economic models. Comparisons to the American and German markets reveal how differing policies—liberal versus corporatist/social democratic—determine job growth and levels of income inequality and poverty. The book also stresses the relevance of fortuitous circumstances such as the housing-price bubble. Employment 'Miracles' is an important resource for political scientists and economists in their study of national economies.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Uwe Becker is associate professor of political science at the University of Amsterdam. Herman Schwartz is professor of politics at the University of Virginia.

REVIEWS
Employment “miracles” challenges the conventional wisdom that full employment and good overall economic performance is a function of a particular recipe of policies and institutions. To the extent that deliberate policies have played a role in recent success stories, they are embedded in nationally specific social, economic, and political institutions, which cannot be easily emulated.

The book therefore offers a stern warning against the temptation, so rarely resisted, to draw sweeping generalizations from particular national “models.” But while there is no magic bullet, the book is optimistic about the capacity of countries with very different institutions to be successful in a fiercely competitive global economy.

There is no necessary tradeoff between competitiveness and a large redistributive welfare state, and success is not synonymous with US-style deregulation. This is a point that is brought out in a nuanced and insightful fashion by the individual country chapters. Anyone interested in understanding the relationship between the economy, public policy, and economic performance is well-advised to read this important and timely new book.
Torben Iversen
Professor of Government
Center for European Studies
Harvard University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface
1. Introduction: Miracles, Mirages and Markets
Herman Schwartz and Uwe Becker
Introduction
Luck, pluck and stuck in the employment miracles
Globalisation and the miracles
A specific (corporatist) variety of capitalism?
What the chapters say
2. The Dutch Model: Magic in a Flat Landscape?
Wiemer Salverda
Introduction
Labour market performance
Economic performance
Social outcomes
Policies, the model and the results
Conclusion: luck, pluck or stuck?
3. Employment and Unemployment in Denmark and Sweden: Success or Failure for the Universal Welfare Model?
Christoffer Green-Pedersen and Anders Lindbom
Introduction
Employment and unemployment: what happened?
Unemployment and employment policies
Policies and outcome—Is there a link?
Conclusions
4. The Evolution of the Finnish Model in the 1990s: From Depression to High-Tech Boom
Jaakko Kiander
Introduction
The background of the Finnish miracle: the economic crisis of the 1990s
Political response to the crisis
The recovery and the Finnish 'miracle'
Structural issues: welfare state and labour market institutions
The Nordic welfare state: Good to economic growth?
Labour market institutions and corporatism
Conclusion
5. The Swiss Miracle: Low growth and high employment
François Xavier Merrien and Uwe Becker
Introduction
Corporatism in a fragmented polity
A coordinated market economy?
Recent developments
Economic and labour market development
Disentangling the Swiss 'miracle'
An expanding welfare system
Conclusion
6. Recasting the Story of Ireland's Miracle: Policy, Politics, or Profit?
Mary Daly
The constituents of economic growth and development
Possible explanations
The costs: sustainability?
The significance of the Irish case
7. The Australian Miracle: Luck, Pluck or Being Stuck Down Under?
Herman Schwartz
Introduction
Exports and the current account balance
Employment and collective bargaining
Fiscal balance
Conclusion
8. Last Year's Model? Reflections on the American Model of Employment Growth
Cathie Jo Martin
Introduction
An American success story
The American model
Limits to the liberal market economy model
Conclusion
9. The German Contrast. On Bad Comparisons, Special Circumstances, Luck and Policies That Turned Out to Be Wrong
Uwe Becker
'Germany isn't working'
The German economy in comparison
A bad employment record because of labour market and welfare rigidities?
Accidental circumstances: housing bubble versus unification
On strong German regions
Prospects and possible lessons from the 'model cases'
10. Conclusion: The Importance of Lucky Circumstances, and Still the Liberal-Social Democratic Divide
Uwe Becker and Herman Schwartz
In sum
Recent developments and prospects
What is to be learned?
'Competitive Corporatism'?
Still the liberal-social democratic divide
Bibliography
Contributors
Index

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