Abstract
Since the 1970s early exit from work has become a major challenge in modern welfare
states. Governments, employers, and unions alike once thought of early retirement as a peaceful
solution to the economic problems of mass unemployment and industrial restructuring. Today
governments and international organizations advocate the postponement of retirement and an increase
in activity among older workers. Comparing the USA, eight European countries, and Japan, this book
demonstrates significant cross-national differences in early retirement across countries and over
time. The study evaluates the impact of major variations in welfare regimes, production systems,
and labour relations. It stresses the importance of the 'pull factor' of extensive welfare state
provisions, particularly in Continental Europe; the 'push factor' of labour shedding strategies by
firms, particularly in Anglo-American market economies; and the role of employers and worker
representatives in negotiating retirement policies, particularly in coordinated market economies.
Over the last three decades, early retirement has become a popular social policy and employment
practice in the workplace, adding to the fiscal crises and employment problems of today's welfare
states. Attempts to reverse early retirement policies have led to major reform debates. Unilateral
government policies to cut back on social benefits have not had the expected employment results due
to resistance from employers, workers, and their organizations. Successful reforms require the
cooperation of both sides. This study provides comprehensive empirical analysis and a balanced
approach to studying both the pull and the push factors affecting early exit from work needed to
understand the development of early retirement regimes.
| Acknowledgements |
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| Figures
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| Tables |
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| Abbreviations |
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| Part 1: Exploring Interests and
Institutions |
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1. Introduction: The
Paradox of Early Exit from Work |
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2. Actor Constellations
and Interest Coalitions: Labor, Emoployers, and the State |
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3. Protection, Production,
anfd Partnership Institutions: From Institutional Affinities to Complementarities
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Part 2: Comparing Early Exit Regimes |
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4. Ever Earlier
Retirement: Comparing Employment Trajectories |
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5. The Protection-Pull
Factors: Multiple Pathways to Early Exit |
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6. The Production-Push
Factors: The Political Economy of Labor Shedding |
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Part 3: Reform Obstacles and Opportunities |
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7. Exit from Early
Retirement: Paradigm Shifts, Policy Reversals, and Reform Obstacles |
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8. Conclusion: From Path
Dependence to Path Departure? |
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Appendix Note |
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| Bibliography |
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Bernhard EBBINGHAUS is Professor of Macrosociology at the University of Mannheim
(Germany) and Head of the Research Department "European Societies and their Integration" at the
Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES). He was previously Senior Researcher at the Max
Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG) in Cologne and visiting fellow at CES, Harvard
University, University of Wisconsin - Madison, and University of Jena. Other publications: (with
Jelle Visser), Trade Unions in Western Europe since 1945, London: Macmillan, 2000; editor (with
Philip Manow), Comparing Welfare Capitalism, London: Routledge, 2001 (reprint 2005). |
