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Zivilgesellschaft
(2007)
The Maastricht Treaty set a series of convergence criteria that Member States have to meet to join the euro area. The Treaty is not specific, however, about how to prevent free-riding fiscal behaviour once Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is in place. The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) represents an institutional response.1 Its design includes preventive and corrective mechanisms. The emphasis for the preventive arm rests on the monitoring of Member State behaviour. Euro-area Member States produce Stability Programme updates yearly in the autumn. The European Commission, for its part, assesses the programmes and makes recommendations to the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers (henceforth ‘ECOFIN’) on whether the programmes meet European fiscal objectives, which in particular includes the achievement of budget positions ‘close to balance or in surplus’. In order to move to the formal corrective arm of the Pact, a Member State would have to be found to have an ‘excessive deficit’.
Business–government relations on trade issues are generally characterized as protectionist lobbying or – less often – lobbying for the liberalization of markets. However, with the evolution of the trading system, negotiations today concern not just market opening, but also the regulatory frameworks that structure international trade. This transformation has important consequences for the ways in which private interests can contribute to trade negotiations. Instead of simply trying to exert pressure, businesses and other private actors now form working relationships with governments based on expertise, learning, and information exchange. This article illustrates these new forms of public–private interactions with examples from the USA, the European Union, and Brazil.
Welfare State Formation in the Enlarged European Union: Patterns of Reform in Postcommunist States
(2007)
Eastern Enlargement of the European Union challenged the design of European Welfare states. Many authors discuss the impact of East European social security systems on their West European counterparts and fear a “race to the bottom”. This paper addresses welfare state developments in the eight post-socialist new member states which completed the accession process in 2004, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia (EU-8). We focus on institutional patterns and performance as well as on the impact of internal and external actors of welfare state formation. How do the EU-8 diverge from West European welfare states and how do they fit into the typology of welfare state regimes?
Politicians, economists, and social theorists tend to agree that globalization and neo-liberal economic policy have contributed to the decline of the social compacts underlying traditional European welfare states. Recently, however, social pacts have demonstrated an impressive resurgence, as governments across Europe facing necessary economic policy adjustments have chosen to view trade unions as vital negotiating partners rather than adversaries. Wage Setting, Social Pacts, and the Euro offers a theoretical understanding of the forces that have led to this new understanding, and of the challenges that increasing monetary integration will continue to pose.
Universal Old Age Pensions : arguments at time of introduction in Canada, Mauritius and Norway
(2007)
If combating poverty is a major political goal of social policy, and combating poverty among the old population in particular, what type of old age pension or income support policies are preferable? What is the status of knowledge as to the effects of various designs of pension programmes? Studies indicate that universal old age pension programmes are conducive to poverty alleviation and less income inequality, but strikingly few countries have introduced universal pension programmes since New Zealand as the first country in the world introduced such a scheme in 1938. We wonder what arguments were expressed and were decisive for the introduction of the universal schemes that after all exist, and a first analysis of the basic arguments for establishing universal old age pensions in three selected countries is made. The three countries are Canada, Mauritius and Norway which all introduced universal pensions in the 1950s, and belong to the group of pioneering countries in this respect. Even if an idea of a “one-size-fits-all” policy is not necessarily subscribed to, it is of interest to do a comparison of arguments for one specific policy solution, universal pensions, in countries belonging to different continents, existing in different international contexts, having different cultures and traditions, being at different levels of economic development, having different political history, and which are different in territorial and population size. An overview of pension systems in all countries of the world is given, and the historical arguments for universal pension systems in the three elected countries are presented and compared. One finding is that the ambition to reduce poverty was an important motivation in two of the countries, but the main consideration cutting across all three countries was the moral aversion to means testing and the desire to respect human dignity. Another argument found in all three countries was the pragmatic one that a universal scheme would lead to a reduction of administrative
cost of old age provision.
This paper uses a new data set on budgetary institutions in Europe to examine the impact of fiscal rules and budget procedures in EU countries on public finances. It briefly describes the main pattern of budgetary institutions and their determinants across the EU 15 member states. Empirical evidence for the time period 1985–2004 suggests that the centralisation of budgeting procedures restrains public debt. In countries with one-party governments or coalition governments where parties are closely aligned and where political competition among them is low, this is achieved by the delegation of decision-making power to the minister of finance. Fiscal contracts that require countries to set multi-year targets and that reinforce those targets increase fiscal discipline in countries with ideologically dispersed coalitions and where parties regularly compete against each other.
Among all EU member states, German unions have the widest gap between male and female trade union density rates and are least adjusted to the structural changes stemming from the rise of the service sector on the labour market. This development asks for a more subtle understanding of the role of industrial relations institutions for trade union membership. The paper addresses the phenomenon by locating the main problem areas of membership erosion, such as weak service sector membership and the ageing of membership in manufacturing trade unions. It argues that industrial relations institutions have a double effect. Industry unionism is on the one hand a key pillar for centralized bargaining and institutional stability. On the other hand, stable institutional structures might have contributed to the membership decline.
The Asylum Procedures Directive in Legal Context: Equivocal Standards Meet General Principles
(2007)
Purpose
– Social entrepreneurial organizations have gained in awareness and interest among researchers, yet we know relatively little about how these organizations are able to create social and economic value. This paper seeks to understand how such organizations have managed to achieve scale and sustainability in developing economies – often lacking the institutions, networks and resources required to support their growth – whilst also maintaining their focus on a social mission.
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper presents a comparative case analysis of three social entrepreneurial organizations based in Bangladesh, Egypt and Spain that have been widely recognized as successful. It utilizes an explorative research approach with data gathered from many sources including published and unpublished articles, existing case studies, personal interviews and internet sources.
Findings
– Analysis of these three business models reveals common patterns in the use of strategic resources, in their value networks, and in customer interface. The findings suggest that successful social entrepreneurial organizations: proactively create their own value networks of companies that share their social vision; develop resource strategies as an integral part of the business model; and integrate their target groups into the social value network.
Research limitations/implications
– There are limitations in the sampling and data analysis approach, however, this study provides a first step towards a more inclusive empirical research agenda in the future.
Practical implications
– The paper offers interesting insights for existing for‐profit multi‐business companies to rethink their business models, particularly for developing country contexts.
Originality/value
– This paper encourages managers to think beyond the creation of economic value and demonstrates how social entrepreneurs achieve sustainable growth based on building complementary networks of stakeholders and resources integrated into the value chain. It provides propositions regarding the business models of successful social entrepreneurial organizations and hopes to stimulate managerial interest in alternative business models and future empirical research which builds on these qualitative findings.