Governance is now a major topic in political science. To date, analysts of governance have paid scant attention to social policy or welfare state reform. In this book, the concept of governance is used to analyse the outgoing variety of the welfare mix as well as shifting responsibilities and modes of interaction. This unique and path-breaking work analyses the governance of welfare state reform in the areas of health, pensions, labour market and education policy. The authors compare both the different processes of reform (politics) and the change of policies in different welfare state regimes. They question if the change of regulatory structures results in growing convergence or ongoing divergence of welfare states. Governance of Welfare State Reform will be essential reading for researchers and students interested in social policy and governance studies. Political scientists, sociologists and social policymakers will also find this book an invaluable read.

This book goes beyond traditional minimum wage research to investigate the interplay between different country and sectoral institutional settings and actors’ strategies in the field of minimum wage policies. It asks which strategies and motives, namely free collective bargaining, fair pay and/or minimum income protection, are emphasised by social actors with respect to the regulation and adaptation of (statutory) minimum wages. Taking an actor-centered institutionalist approach, and employing cross-country comparative studies, sector studies and single country accounts of change, the book relates institutional and labour market settings, actors’ strategies and power resources with policy and practice outcomes. Looking at the key pay equity indicators of low wage development and women’s over-representation among the low paid, it illuminates our understandings about the importance of historical junctures, specific constellations of social actors, and sector- and country-specific actor strategies. Finally, it underlines the important role of social dialogue in shaping an effective minimum wage policy. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and policy-makers and practitioners in industrial relations, international human resource management, labour studies, labour market policy, inequality studies, trade union studies, European politics and political economy.

This book goes beyond traditional minimum wage research to investigate the interplay between different country and sectoral institutional settings and actors' strategies in the field of minimum wage policies. It asks which strategies and motives, namely free collective bargaining, fair pay and/or minimum income protection, are emphasised by social actors with respect to the regulation and adaptation of (statutory) minimum wages. Taking an actor-centered institutionalist approach, and employing cross-country comparative studies, sector studies and single country accounts of change, the book relates institutional and labour market settings, actors' strategies and power resources with policy and practice outcomes. Looking at the key pay equity indicators of low wage development and women's over-representation among the low paid, it illuminates our understandings about the importance of historical junctures, specific constellations of social actors, and sector- and country-specific actor strategies. Finally, it underlines the important role of social dialogue in shaping an effective minimum wage policy. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and policy-makers and practitioners in industrial relations, international human resource management, labour studies, labour market policy, inequality studies, trade union studies, European politics and political economy.

Im Mittelpunkt dieser Untersuchung steht die Frage, welche Strategien die britischen Gewerkschaften wahrend der 80er und 90er Jahre verfolgten. Neben der allgemeinen Entwicklung der britischen Arbeitsbeziehungen sind auch Lohn- und Berufsbildungspolitik Gegenstand der Analyse."

Unter dem Leitbegriff Governance von Arbeit analysieren die AutorInnen Veranderungen und Kontinuitaten in Bezug auf die Gestaltung von Arbeitsbedingungen und Karriereentwicklung, Entlohnung und Interessenvertretung, wie auch Institutionen der Reproduktion (Berufsbildung, Familie) in Deutschland. Ubergreifende These ist, dass sich alte und neue Institutionen im Sinne veranderter Komplementaritaten verbinden und sowohl individuelle als auch kollektive Akteure veranlassen, z.T. neue, eigene Bewaltigungs- und Entlastungsstrategien zu entwickeln. Die sozialen Folgen dieser Entwicklung werden als bipolare Heterogenisierung skizziert, d.h. dass jenseits des traditionellen Kerns, der nach wie vor durch Normalarbeitsverhaltnis, Normalbiographie und Normalfamilie gepragt ist, eine zunehmende Polarisierung der Arbeits- und Lebensbedingungen in Richtung Privilegierung und Prekarisierung zu erkennen ist. "