Whatever works: Dualisation and the service economy in Bismarckian welfare states

Arbeitspapier

The paper compares employment structures in five Continental welfare states. These countries feature broad similarities in their reliance on a more dualised model of labour market flexibility, particularly in service occupations with low skill requirements. However, a closer look also reveals considerable differences between national patterns of standard and non-standard work. In Germany (and to a lesser extent Austria), marginal part-time provides a fertile ground for low-paid service jobs, as non-wage labour costs are minimised. In France, fixed-term contracts are a flexible and also cheaper alternative to permanent contracts, especially for younger workers. Dutch service sector employers follow an eclectic approach, as can be seen from high shares of self-employed and part-timers, as well as temporary workers. Finally, Belgium has large proportions of very low-skilled, own-account self-employed and involuntary fixed-term contracts. On the basis of these results, we identify four transformative pathways towards a more inclusive or flexible labour market: growing wage dispersion, defection from both permanent full-time employment as well as from dependent employment, and government-sponsored labour cost reductions.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 5035

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: Public Policy ; Labor Contracts ; Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure ; Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining: Public Policy
• Thema: Labour market dualisation ; Continental Europe ; fixed-term contracts ; part-time work ; wage dispersion ; Arbeitsverhältnis ; Dualer Arbeitsmarkt ; Arbeitsmarktflexibilisierung ; Sozialstaat ; Dienstleistungssektor ; Lohnstruktur ; Ungeschützte Beschäftigung ; Lohnsubvention ; Vergleich ; Deutschland ; Frankreich ; Niederlande ; Belgien ; Österreich

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Eichhorst, Werner ; Marx, Paul
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (wo): Bonn
• (wann): 2010

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/36976
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:42 MEZ