Book Description

The reforms of the 1990s thus confirmed the necessity of thinking adjustment and change in the context of existing institutional arrangements. [...] Another objective, Introduction: Varieties of Capitalism, Varieties of Federalism 3 the other side of the coin so to speak, is to consider federalism in light of labour market policies and, more broadly, of varieties of capitalism, a perspec- tive seldom used in the comparative study of federations. [...] Between 1985 and 1998, the average unemployment rate was 11.3 percent in Belgium, 9.5 percent in Canada, and 8.5 percent in Germany, compared to 6 percent in the United States and 2.5 percent in Switzerland.17 Understandably, the lack of jobs was a more critical political issue in the first three than in the last two. [...] Over the years, the federal government has prevailed on most social policy questions, because the Basic Law allowed it to legislate in areas of concurrent jurisdiction, whenever it was necessary "to establish and maintain the legal and economic union of Germany, as well as to promote and safeguard the equal- ity of living standards throughout the country." The Länder have maintained a role because [...] While federal legislation and funding define the orientations and the scope of labour market policy, the admin- istration of labour market policy is largely left to the Bundesanstalt für Arbeit (BAA, Federal Employment Office), an autonomous tripartite administration gov- erned jointly by representatives of the trade unions, of business associations, and of the states.