IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v22y2004i1p129-148.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beyond Contradictions of the Workfare State? Denmark, Welfare-through-Work, and the Promise of Job Rotation

Author

Listed:
  • David Etherington

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, England)

  • Martin Jones

    (Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth SY23 3DB, Wales)

Abstract

The reform of the British welfare state through the Labour Party's welfare-to-work initiative is beginning to generate considerable debate. Research is revealing that, amongst other things, supply-side interventions are not sufficient on their own to build skilled, dynamic, and socially inclusive economies. Although there is an emerging consensus that welfare-to-work is deeply problematic, in UK debates there has been a degree of reluctance to discuss workable alternatives. This paper stimulates debate by focusing on Denmark's labour-market and welfare reforms during the 1990s. As part of a ‘welfare- through -work’ model, fostered on a negotiated and inclusive system of welfare reform, Denmark has followed a strategy that appears to deliver both economic competitiveness and social cohesion, and also raises critical questions around labour market inequalities and the distribution of work. We suggest that the Danish experience can shed light on tensions currently being experienced within Britain. Attention is specifically paid to the origins, development, and promises of job rotation—a radical work-sharing initiative that is being flagged by the European Commission as the good-practice model for ‘sustainable employment’ and ‘lifelong learning’. We argue that important connections exist between the structure of labour-market representation, which is mediated through the social and political forces that can gain access to the state apparatus, and the patterns of policy interventions and their outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • David Etherington & Martin Jones, 2004. "Beyond Contradictions of the Workfare State? Denmark, Welfare-through-Work, and the Promise of Job Rotation," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 22(1), pages 129-148, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:22:y:2004:i:1:p:129-148
    DOI: 10.1068/c28m
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/c28m
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/c28m?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Graham Haughton & Martin Jones & Jamie Peck & Adam Tickell & Aidan While, 2000. "Labour Market Policy as Flexible Welfare: Prototype Employment Zones and the New Workfarism," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(7), pages 669-680, October.
    2. Oecd, 1998. "Key Employment Policy Challenges Faced by OECD Countries," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 31, OECD Publishing.
    3. Ivan Turok & David Webster, 1998. "The New Deal," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 12(4), pages 309-328, February.
    4. Corinne Nativel & Peter Sunley & Ron Martin, 2002. "Localising Welfare-to-Work? Territorial Flexibility and the New Deal for Young People," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 20(6), pages 911-932, December.
    5. Robert G. Fay, 1996. "Enhancing the Effectiveness of Active Labour Market Policies: Evidence from Programme Evaluations in OECD Countries," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 18, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Colin M Mason & Sara Carter & Stephen K Tagg, 2006. "The Effect of the National Minimum Wage on the UK Small Business Sector: A Geographical Analysis," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 24(1), pages 99-116, February.
    2. Carlo Altavilla & Floro E. Caroleo, 2006. "Evaluating the Dynamic Effects of Active Labour Policies in Italy," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 20(2), pages 349-382, June.
    3. Michael Lechner & Ruth Miquel & Conny Wunsch, 2011. "Long‐Run Effects Of Public Sector Sponsored Training In West Germany," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 742-784, August.
    4. Frölich, Markus & Lechner, Michael, 2010. "Exploiting Regional Treatment Intensity for the Evaluation of Labor Market Policies," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 105(491), pages 1014-1029.
    5. Michael Gerfin & Michael Lechner, 2002. "A Microeconometric Evaluation of the Active Labour Market Policy in Switzerland," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(482), pages 854-893, October.
    6. Albrecht, James & van den Berg, Gerard J & Vroman, Susan, 2004. "The knowledge lift: The Swedish adult education program that aimed to eliminate low worker skill levels," Working Paper Series 2004:17, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    7. Aki Kangasharju, 2007. "Do Wage Subsidies Increase Employment in Subsidized Firms?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(293), pages 51-67, February.
    8. Marco Caliendo & Reinhard Hujer, 2006. "The microeconometric estimation of treatment effects—An overview," AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis, Springer;German Statistical Society, vol. 90(1), pages 199-215, March.
    9. Bruno Crépon & Gerard J. van den Berg, 2016. "Active Labor Market Policies," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 521-546, October.
    10. Donald Houston, 2005. "Employability, Skills Mismatch and Spatial Mismatch in Metropolitan Labour Markets," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 42(2), pages 221-243, February.
    11. Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2007. "What Works Best for Getting the Unemployed Back to Work: Employment Services or Small-Business Assistance Programmes? Evidence from Romania," IZA Discussion Papers 3051, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Jekaterina Dmitrijeva & Mihails Hazans, 2007. "A Stock–Flow Matching Approach to Evaluation of Public Training Programme in a High Unemployment Environment," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 21(3), pages 503-540, September.
    13. Rodokanakis Stavros, 2009. "Comparing the Probability of Unemployment in Southern Greece Vis-À-Vis the Entire Country," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 12(12), pages 17-43, January.
    14. Annette Bergemann & Gerard J. Van Den Berg, 2008. "Active Labor Market Policy Effects for Women in Europe - A Survey," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 91-92, pages 385-408.
    15. Venetoklis, Takis & Kangasharju, Aki, 2003. "Do Wage-subsidies Increase Employment in Firms?," Discussion Papers 304, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    16. James Albrecht & Gerard van den Berg & Susan Vroman, 2009. "The Aggregate Labor Market Effects of the Swedish Knowledge Lift Program," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 12(1), pages 129-146, January.
    17. Viktor Steiner & Tobias Hagen, 2002. "Was kann die Aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik in Deutschland aus der Evaluationsforschung in anderen europäischen Ländern lernen?," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 3(2), pages 189-206, May.
    18. Oliver Bruttel, 2005. "Are Employment Zones Successful? Evidence From the First Four Years," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 20(4), pages 389-403, November.
    19. Scott Baum & Anthea Bill & William Mitchell, 2008. "Labour Underutilisation in Metropolitan Labour Markets in Australia: Individual Characteristics, Personal Circumstances and Local Labour Markets," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(5-6), pages 1193-1216, May.
    20. Miguel Baiao & Ilze Buligina, 2021. "Work Experience Led Programs and Employment Attainment," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(1), pages 180-198.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:22:y:2004:i:1:p:129-148. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.