Towards 'Flexicurity'? Balancing Flexibility and Security in EU Member States

27 Pages Posted: 21 May 2008

See all articles by Ton Wilthagen

Ton Wilthagen

Tilburg University

F.H. Tros

AIAS-HSI - University of Amsterdam

Harm van Lieshout

University of Amsterdam - Hugo Sinzheimer Institute (HSI)

Date Written: September 2003

Abstract

This paper focuses on the "flexibility-security nexus" in employment and the labour market in four EU-member states: Denmark, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The starting point of the paper is the concept of "flexicurity", viewed as a particular way of dealing with the aforementioned nexus. The paper explores differences in the emphasis put on types and levels of flexibility and security, as well as the particular trade-offs between forms of flexibility and security. Coordinated decentralisation and flexible multi-level governance in national IR-systems seem to represent important preconditions for the introduction of flexicurity arrangements, as the Danish and Dutch cases show.

Keywords: flexicurity, European Employment Strategy, social partners, industrial relations, negotiation

JEL Classification: J00, J2, K31

Suggested Citation

Wilthagen, Ton and Tros, F.H. and van Lieshout, Harm, Towards 'Flexicurity'? Balancing Flexibility and Security in EU Member States (September 2003). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1133940 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1133940

Ton Wilthagen (Contact Author)

Tilburg University ( email )

PO Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands
0031134664512 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://research.tilburguniversity.edu/en/persons/ton-wilthagen

F.H. Tros

AIAS-HSI - University of Amsterdam ( email )

Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
Amsterdam, 1018WV
Netherlands
0031624217586 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.uva.nl/profiel/t/r/f.h.tros/f.h.tros.html

Harm Van Lieshout

University of Amsterdam - Hugo Sinzheimer Institute (HSI) ( email )

Rokin 84
Amsterdam, 1000 BA
Netherlands

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