Introduction

The aim of this contribution is to shed some light on the European Social Model (ESM) by approaching it from the perspective of employment, or the economy more generally, but also by comparing it to the United States (US) model. The approach raises the question of what the model stands for as well as the nature of its effects. Analysis of the latter aspect may help to improve knowledge of the former, thus serving as a heuristic device. But there is more to it than that. One cannot fully know and understand a model by looking at its institutions and taking them at face value, as international comparisons often tend to do: beyond the rules as they exist on paper, the effects too are part and parcel of a social model. A good example here is the minimum wage. The US has had this institution since the 1930s and some European countries still do not have it; and yet, regulatory influences on low wages may be more important in the latter. There are two issues at stake here: first the ‘bite’ of an institution is important and, second, other institutions or arrangements and provisions may have the same or equivalent effects. What is more, the effects are at the heart of political concerns regarding the ESM – for, after all, who would bother about a model if it had no effects? The main political concern is that the ESM would unduly restrict economic development and therefore does not serve the population well. In addition to this, a model (social or otherwise) that is considered to be linked to a geographical area (Europe in this case) may – in the view of this author at least – best be analysed in a comparative fashion. I believe, in particular – and this is where the comparative perspective comes in – that it is most important to see whether, and where, the ESM differs from the US model. The latter is usually thought to be an economic model with (negative) social consequences and, similarly, the ESM is believed to have (negative) economic consequences. Behind this is the question of whether the ESM denotes a model that really is shared by the European countries and whether perhaps it may even transcend them. Rules and regulations that are developing at the European level are discussed elsewhere in this volume.