Cooperation and Conflict the Nordic Way

Work, Welfare, and Institutional Change in Scandinavia

Fredrik Engelstad, Anniken Hagelund, Fredrik Engelstad, Anniken Hagelund

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open Poland
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9783110444285
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Demography
• Index: Social Sciences

The Nordic model attracts attention in a mixture of applause and disbelief. Among its merits, but also a precondition to its future survival, is its capacity to modify and adapt to changing circumstances. This book scrutinizes Nordic – in particular Norwegian – working life and welfare states from the perspective of institutional change. The analyses range from property rights, boardroom politics and wage formation to old-age pensions, care work and childcare policies. What emerges is a picture of societies characterized by ongoing, often incremental, social and political reform processes. Tripartite relations of coordination and negotiation in the labor market and beyond, give shape to power relations and political processes in particular ways. The close connections between labour market, welfare state, family and gender policies work to create institutional bundles – in an even stronger way than assumed in the Varieties of Capitalism literature.
The book is written for students and scholars with an interest in Nordic societies, in corporatism and political processes, as well as readers interested in theoretical debate on varieties of capitalism and institutional change.

Table of contents

• Preface
• 1 Introduction: Institutional Change in Neo-Corporatist Society
• 2 Negotiation and the Micro-Foundations ofInstitutional Change
• 3 Property Rights, Governance, and Power Balances
• 4 Institutionalization and Dynamic Change ofInstitutions – the Basic Agreement and TripartiteStructures in Norway
• 5 Participation and Co-Determination:Why Some Arrangements Fail and Others Prevail
• 6 The Making of Gender Quotas for Corporate Boardsin Norway
• 7 Institutional Variation and Normative Theory:Lessons from a Local Equal Pay Controversy
• 8 Regulating the Temporary Layoff Institution –Coalitions and Drift
• 9 Cooperation and Power in Labour AdjustmentChoices: A Nordic Perspective
• 10 Preventing Dualization the Hard Way –Regulating the Norwegian Labour Market
• 11 Cooperation and Reform in Vocational Educationand Training
• 12 To Reform or Not to Reform? Explaining theCoexistence of Successful Pension Reform and SickPay Inertia in Norway
• 13 Changing Welfare Institutions as Sites ofContestation
• 14 Making, Unmaking and Remaking: The Evolutionof Nordic Cash for Childcare Schemes
• 15 Conflict, Compromise, CooperationConcluding Reflections
• About the Authors
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Index