The second panel seeks to contribute to the understanding of how higher education policies influence socio-economic and educational inequality, labor market access and career patterns, as well as production and innovation regimes. How do higher education, vocational education and lifelong learning initiatives jointly affect stratification? How do institutional effects change over time, and how do they feed back into the politics of institutional renewal by shaping voter preferences, party politics and group coalitions? What is the relative importance of different institutional features for producing particular outcomes?