Unions, Employers, and Central Banks
Macroeconomic Coordination and Institutional Change in Social Market Economies

Focuses on important political-economic changes in industrialized countries, namely unemployment and inequality.

Torben Iversen (Edited by), Jonas Pontusson (Edited by), David Soskice (Edited by)

9780521788847, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 April 2000

356 pages, 23 b/w illus. 31 tables
23 x 15.3 x 2.6 cm, 0.51 kg

"This outstanding volume on the political economy of the social market economies of Northern Europe joins the literature on corporatism and coordinated wage bargaining with work on central banks, monetary policy and fiscal policy to produce a deeper understanding of how the problems of unemployment and growth are rooted in the institutional arrangements of these political economies. Since these countries form the economic pivot of the new Europe, this volume is essential reading for scholars interested in the dynamics of wage bargaining, unemployment, and growth in the emerging European Monetary Union." John D. Stephens, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

This book focuses on some of the most important political-economic changes in advanced industrialized countries over the past two decades, namely, the sharp rise in unemployment in some countries and the growth of inequality in others. Using a variety of methodological approaches, the essays provide different pieces to this puzzle and explain how economic outcomes may be linked to macroeconomic policies and wage bargaining practices. Focusing on the experiences of northern European countries, the book also explores the intersection of partisan politics, the international economy, and nationally specific institutions.

1. Comparative political economy: Northern European perspective Torben Iversen and Jonas Pontusson
2. Macroeconomic analysis and the political economy of unemployment David Soskice
Part I. Wage Bargaining: 3. The Swedish employer offensive against centralized bargaining Peter Swenson and Jonas Pontusson
4. Post-war wage setting in the Nordic countries Michael Wallerstein and Miriam Golden
5. Why German employers cannot bring themselves to dismantle the German model Kathleen Thelen
Part II. Macroeconomic Regimes: 6. Institutional dimensions of coordinating wage bargaining and monetary policy Robert Franzese and Peter Hall
7. Decentralization, monetarism and the social democratic welfare state Torben Iversen
8. The politics of macroeconomic policy and wage negotiations in Sweden Andrew Martin
Part III. Macroeconomic and Distributive Outcomes: 9. Public sector unions, corporatism and wage determination Geoffrey Garrett and Christopher Way
10. Labor-market institutions and wage distribution Jonas Pontusson.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP]