Learning and Labor Market Reforms: Evidence from 10 European Countries

Learning is crucial for a resilient response to economic and political crises. Therefore, it is necessary to study how governments learn in order to understand why some countries are resilient to external shocks, whereas others are not. This paper analyzes how political and economic institutions impact on policy learning capacities and the reform of domestic labor market institutions. Specifically, I am going to map changes in labor market policies, using a sample of 30 labor market reforms from 10 European countries (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) in the period 2005-2012. I will argue that ceteris paribus, high problem pressure should lead to broader changes of policy instruments and the adaptation of new ideas. However, the effect of problem pressure on policy change is conditional on the degree of political constraints, because political parties and interest groups have more venues to successfully oppose reforms. On the other hand, in open market economies innovative ideas should pass more successfully in the political process, because policymakers want to remain attractive for employers and companies. The empirical part of this paper is based on expert reports that were written in the context of an international project on labor market policies (www.inspires-research.eu). I will use QCA to uncover patterns of learning and politicization in labor market reforms in these countries. Overall, this paper is going to make a substantial contribution to the understanding of dynamics in labor market policies and learning processes in European political economies.