Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Collective Political Engagement and the Welfare State
- 2 The Political Origins of Coordinated Capitalism
- 3 Party Conflict and the Origins of Danish Labor Market Coordination
- 4 British Experiments in National Employers’ Organization
- 5 Sectional Parties and Divided Business in the United States
- 6 The Origins of Sector Coordination in Germany
- 7 Twenty-First Century Breakdown? Challenges to Coordination in the Postindustrial Age
- 8 Institutional Sources of Employers’ Preferences for Social Policy
- 9 Employers, Coordination, and Active Labor Market Policy in Postindustrial Denmark
- 10 Employers and Active Labor Market Policy in Postindustrial Britain
- 11 The Failure of Coordination and the Rise of Dualism in Germany
- 12 The Political Foundations of Redistribution and Equality
- Conclusion Social Solidarity after the Crisis of Finance Capitalism
- Bibliography
- Index
12 - The Political Foundations of Redistribution and Equality
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Collective Political Engagement and the Welfare State
- 2 The Political Origins of Coordinated Capitalism
- 3 Party Conflict and the Origins of Danish Labor Market Coordination
- 4 British Experiments in National Employers’ Organization
- 5 Sectional Parties and Divided Business in the United States
- 6 The Origins of Sector Coordination in Germany
- 7 Twenty-First Century Breakdown? Challenges to Coordination in the Postindustrial Age
- 8 Institutional Sources of Employers’ Preferences for Social Policy
- 9 Employers, Coordination, and Active Labor Market Policy in Postindustrial Denmark
- 10 Employers and Active Labor Market Policy in Postindustrial Britain
- 11 The Failure of Coordination and the Rise of Dualism in Germany
- 12 The Political Foundations of Redistribution and Equality
- Conclusion Social Solidarity after the Crisis of Finance Capitalism
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Introduction
What is the recipe for a good society, where people pull together rather than pull apart, and material well-being seems to reflect not only the fruits of competitive markets but of cooperative endeavors to solve market failures and meet collective needs. What felicitous formula allows some nations to achieve high levels of equality even while maintaining high levels of economic efficiency and affluence? Is the quest for equality determined exclusively by the bravado, resources and organization of labor, or do strategic calculations by employers also matter to a high level of investment in human capital and a relatively egalitarian sharing of the economic pie? Why do some countries seem to have it all?
Even though countries have proposed rather similar reforms to address postindustrial stresses, the socioeconomic effects of these reforms have varied widely across advanced industrial nations, even within coordinated market economies. Macrocorporatist countries (such as Denmark) do better in simultaneously sustaining equality and growth, while continental countries with sector coordination (such as Germany) have produced dualistic policies. Employers and workers in the core economy – best prepared to withstand the vagaries of international competition and technological change – benefit from these policies, yet marginal workers are treated less kindly.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Political Construction of Business InterestsCoordination, Growth, and Equality, pp. 227 - 247Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012