The Politics of Growth Models

This article develops a framework for studying the politics of growth models. These, the authors posit, are sustained by ‘growth coalitions’ based in key sectors. Their members are first and foremost firms and employer associations, but fractions of labor are also included, if their interests do not impair the model’s functionality. There is no guarantee that a growth coalition and a winning electoral coalition coincide. In normal times, a growth coalition effectively insulates itself from political competition, and mainstream political parties converge on key growth model policies. In moments of crisis, however, the coalition shrinks, favoring the emergence of challengers that fundamentally contest the status quo. The way governing parties respond to electoral pressures can also play an important role in the recalibration of growth models. The authors illustrate the argument by examining the politics of ‘export-led growth’ in Germany, ‘construction-led growth’ in Spain, and ‘balanced growth’ in Sweden.1 Introduction 2 The comparative capitalisms debate 3 Sectoral interests in macroeconomic policy 4 Social class and power resources 5 Parties and electoral politics 6 The politics of export-led growth in Germany 7 The politics of construction-led growth in Spain 8 The politics of growth-model recalibration in Sweden 9 Concluding remarks Reference

Beyond Varieties of Capitalism: A Growth Model Approach

Mark Blyth, Lucio Baccaro and Jonas Pontusson explain the concept of national ‘growth models’, drawn from their recent book Diminishing Returns: The New Politics of Growth and Stagnation, highlighting how the concept can help us make sense of recent UK economic and political developments

Welfare Reform, Precarity and the Re-Commodification of Labour

While welfare reform matters for workers and workplaces, it is peripheral in English-language sociology of work and industrial relations research. This article’s core proposition is that active labour market policies (ALMPs) are altering the institutional constitution of the labour market by intensifying market discipline within the workforce. This re-commodification effect is specified drawing on Marxism, comparative institutionalism, German-language sociology, and English-language social policy analysis. Because of administrative failures and employer discrimination, however, ALMPs may worsen precarity without achieving the stated goal of increasing labour-market participation

Is it the Income Distribution or Redistribution that Affects Growth?

Hervorming Sociale Regelgevin

Taking the Sector Seriously: Data, Developments, and Drivers of Intrasectoral Earnings Inequality

The politics and administration of institutional chang

Changing Fields of Solidarity in France: A Cross-field Analysis of Migration, Unemployment and Disability

AbstractThis chapter evaluates the implications of recent crises for solidarity organisations in France. The main aim is to assess whether solidarity remains nationally bounded or otherwise follows some consistent pattern of transnationalisation. By focusing on the fields of migration, unemployment and disability, the chapter examines the main attributes of solidarity organisations; in particular, the analysis aims to evaluate how transnational features relate to endogenous characteristics, such as activities, roles and networks affecting their particular experiences within changing fields of solidarity. Crucially, findings show that the economic crisis and welfare retrenchment in France have well served the purpose of governments willing to pre-empt strong political challenge by potential solidarity movements

Introduction: Brexit and European Capitalism - A parting of the Waves?

This book analyses the changing nature of the British economy and the consequences of Brexit upon its place within the European economic space

Competing with the Dragon: Employment and Wage Effects of Chinese Trade Competition in 17 Sectors Across 18 OECD Countries

The rapid rise of China on the global economic stage could have substantial and unequal employment and wage effects in advanced industrialised democracies given China's large volume of low-wage labour. Thus far, these effects have not been analysed in the comparative political economy literature. Building on new pooled time-series data, we analyse the effects of Chinese trade competition across 17 sectors in 18 countries between 1990 and 2007. Our empirical findings reveal overall employment declines and higher earnings inequality in sectors more exposed to Chinese imports. We devote particular attention to a new channel, increased competition from China in 59 foreign export markets, which positively affects the high-skilled whilst the low-skilled bear the brunt. Hence, this study shows that neglecting the competition in foreign countries leads to underestimation of the distributive effects of trade. More generally, our findings provide new insights into how international trade, technological change, and labour market institutions contribute to the widely observed trend of rising inequality