Unions, Employers, and
Central Banks
Macroeconomic Coordination
and Institutional Change in Social Market Economies
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.
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.
Contents
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
356 pages 23 line diagrams 31
tables