Flexibility and Employment Security in Europe

Labour Markets in Transition

编辑路德Muffels Socio-Economi教授cs, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Tranzo, Scientific Center for Care and Wellbeing, the Netherlands

This book seeks to gain a better understanding of the paradoxical relationship between the alleged need of European labour markets to become more flexible and the way in which national policies pursue this aim without jeopardising existing high standards of income and employment security. Special interest is devoted to the way in which countries opt for different policy routes to cope with the aim of balancing flexibility and security goals in their respective labour market and social protection policies. The contributions in this book all try to unveil the particular changes or transitions occurring in the various labour markets, to learn about their medium and longer term effects and the role of institutions and policies to cushion the adverse consequences of these changes. By studying some ‘best practices’ in Denmark, Canada and Australia they also draw some important lessons about the reasons why national policies might either fail or better cope with the challenges Europe face today.

‘. . . the book offers a collection of good papers by sociologists and economists, dealing with a variety of topics.’
– Johannes Giesecke, European Sociological Review

‘This is an outstanding volume: carefully edited and well structured, with each individual chapter being a rich, state-of-the-art contribution to our understanding of European labour markets. It definitely should be required reading for anybody dealing with labour market dynamics, transitional labour markets and flexicurity.’
– Brigitte Waldorf, Papers in Regional Science

‘The book will be useful reading for economics students and anyone taking decisions about jobs and employment who needs to understand the interaction between labour market flexibility and security for workers.’
– Agence Europe

‘In this volume, Ruud Muffels presents carefully selected articles that are at the ultimate forefront of professional studies on “transitional labour markets” and “flexicurity”. It is a must for all scholars interested in rigorous analysis of labour market dynamics and a rich source for all people interested in modern employment policy over the life course. The book concludes with a brilliant epilogue by the editor about the state and future of flexibility and employment security in Europe.’
– Günther Schmid, Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB), Germany