When a solution becomes the problem: the causes of policy reversal on early exit from the labour force

Miriam Hartlapp and Achim Kemmerling

EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, 2008, vol. 18, issue 4, 366-379

Abstract: Whereas governments had previously designed early exit policies to unburden labour markets, they have come increasingly to regard them as problematic. We investigate the reasons for this policy reversal, focusing on two key actors: governments and trade unions. Our mixed-methods approach entails two major steps: first, we embed approaches to policy reform in a common framework to show the empirical relevance of the two major actors in most OECD countries. We find that both government ideology and union representativeness matter. In a second step, we investigate reform processes in two countries in more detail. Belgium and the Netherlands have much in common as regards government and interest groups but differ in terms of the reversal of early exit policies. We see that both the configuration of electoral and welfare state institutions have shaped the specific strategic environment of the two actors in both countries.

Keywords: Belgium; early retirement; mixed methods; Netherlands; welfare state reform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:espost:343965

DOI: 10.1177/0958928708094894

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