Amsterdam University Press

Uwe Becker, Herman Schwartz
Employment 'Miracles'
A Critical Comparison of the Dutch, Scandinavian, Swiss, Australian and Irish Cases versus Germany and the US

Why did some economies experience a boom in the 1990s? Employment ‘Miracles’ comparatively analyses select miracle economies. The contributors to the volume critically analyze how the small size and institutional structure of seven countries like the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland accounted for their success and status as economic models. Comparisons with the American and German markets reveal how differing policies - liberal versus corporatist/social democratic - determine job growth and levels of income inequality and poverty. The book also stresses the explanatory relevance of lucky circumstances such as the housing price bubble. Employment ‘Miracles’ is an important resource for political scientists and economists in their study of employment development.

Uwe Becker is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam and co-ordinator of an international research project on the socio-economic development of European corporatist countries.

Herman Schwartz is a professor of Politics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, and author of States vs Markets and In the Dominions of Debt.

Reviews
Employment “miracles” challenges the conventional wisdom that full employment and good overall economic performance is a function of a particular recipe of policies and institutions. To the extent that deliberate policies have played a role in recent success stories, they are embedded in nationally specific social, economic, and political institutions, which cannot be easily emulated.

The book therefore offers a stern warning against the temptation, so rarely resisted, to draw sweeping generalizations from particular national “models.” But while there is no magic bullet, the book is optimistic about the capacity of countries with very different institutions to be successful in a fiercely competitive global economy.

There is no necessary tradeoff between competitiveness and a large redistributive welfare state, and success is not synonymous with US-style deregulation. This is a point that is brought out in a nuanced and insightful fashion by the individual country chapters. Anyone interested in understanding the relationship between the economy, public policy, and economic performance is well-advised to read this important and timely new book.
Torben Iversen
Professor of Government
Center for European Studies
Harvard University