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Reinventing Welfare Regimes Employers and the Implementation of Active Social Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2011

Cathie Jo Martin
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Extract

Denmark and Britain have adopted quite similar “active” social reforms in which employers play a major role in the programmatic delivery of services; however, the implementation of the programs has differed dramatically in the two countries. Danish firms, despite having had virtually no prior involvement in administering social programs, have participated in far greater numbers than British employers, who, by contrast, have long provided private, employment-based social benefits.

Drawing from interviews with 107 randomly selected British and Danish corporations, this article seeks to explain why Danish employers have participated at higher rates than their British counterparts. Subtle programmatic differences that reflect each country's welfare regime have had profound feedback effects on firms' willingness to participate in the programs; these findings have implications for regimes' capacities both to correct for traps and to revise social protections to meet the needs of the new economy.

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , October 2004 , pp. 39 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 2004

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