The papers on this panel examine the political-economic, ideational and cultural factors that have shaped formative periods of welfare state development in Sweden, Denmark, Italy and France. The papers rely on comparative case methods, unravelling the ways in which images of early social policy captured in literature influenced policy development in Denmark and France (Martin/Chevalier); the impact of ideas about solidarity and equalty on wage policies (Oliver); and the political-economic bargaining driving the developing of funded occupational pension provision (Anderson).