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This book explores generation as both a reference to family or kinship structures and a reference to cohorts or age sets. The principal objective is branching out this two-part concept through studies of tensions and solidarity within and between generations of advanced and robust welfare states. Answering key questions using multiple disciplinary approaches, the book considers how generations challenge advanced and robust welfare states; how new and young generations are affected by living in an advanced welfare state with older generations; how tensions or solidarity is understood when facing challenges; and what the key characteristics are of certain generation types. It contributes to the development of a more comprehensive generation approach within social sciences by developing the concept of generation by exploring different challenges to the welfare state such as migration, digitalization, environmental damages, demands for sustainability, and marginalization. Highlighting the escalating tensions and altered versions of solidarity between generations, this book shows how a comprehensive concept of a generation can create new insights into how we collectively coordinate and resolve challenges through the welfare state. This book will be of interest to all scholars and students of social policy, sociology, political science, and social anthropology. ; publishedVersion

The conventional wisdom is that increasing globalisation requires a reduction in the provision of the welfare state among industrialised countries as the distortions resulting from this type of expenditure undermine international competitiveness and the ability of countries to attract and/or retain industries. However, there are empirical observations and theoretical models that are not in line with this conventional wisdom -- see for instance Molana and Montagna (2006) and Goerg, Molana and Montagna (2009). We will carry out an empirical study using multi-country data for selected OECD countries to investigate the link between two aspects of globalisation, namely international competitiveness and foreign direct investment, and the size of government expenditure on social policies. The paper will also take into account theoretical arguments and empirical evidence from related studies.

This paper analyzes the interplay between economic incentives and social norms in a public finance context. We assume that to live off one's own work is a social norm, and that the larger population fraction adhering to this norm, the more intensely it is felt by the individual. It is shown that this may give rise to multiple equilibria and to non-linearities that do not arise from economic incentives alone. In the model, individuals also vote on taxes and transfers. Hence, the social norm influences both their economic and political behavior. We show that monotone and continuous changes in external factors may result in non-monotone, and even discontinuous, changes in the political equilibrium.

CONTRARY TO ITS OWN PROFESSED AIMS ON TAKING OFFICE IN 1979, AND CONTRARY ALSO TO THE CLAIMS OF ITS CRITICS THAT IT WAS DISMANTLING THE WELFARE STATE, THE FIRSDT THATCHER GOVERNMENT CONSPICUOUSLY FAILED TO CUT PUBLIC EXPENDITURE. IN REAL TERMS, SPENDING ROSE BY SEVEN PER CENT. IN PART, THIS WAS BECAUSE OF THE EXTRA DEMANDS GENERATED BY SOARING UNEMPLOYMENT; IN PART, IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE GOVERNMENT'S DECISIONS TO SPEND MORE ON DEFENSE AND ON LAW AND ORDER. PREDOMINANTLY, HOWEVER, THE RISE REFLECTED THE GOVERNMENT'S RELUCTANCE TO DO MORE THAN TRIM INHERITED COMMITMENTS AT THE EDGES. IT IS THIS WHICH HELPS TO EXPLAIN THE SECOND THATCHER ADMINISTRATION'S PREOCCUPATION WITH PRIVATISATION, AS SAMUEL BRITTAN POINTS OUT IN THE FIRST OF THE THREE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE DEALING WITH THIS THEME. THE BACKGROUND TO THIS PREOCCUPATION IS SET OUT IN THE GOVERNMENT'S GREEN PAPER ON POSSIBLE SCENARIOS FOR PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AND TAXATION OVER THE NEXT DECADE. IT IS A DOCUMENT WHICH DESERVES EXTENSIVE DISCUSSION. NOT ONLY DOES IT REPRESENT AN ATTEMPT TO RETURN TO A LONG-TERM PUBLIC EXPENDITURE STRATEGY: HAVING SCRAPPED THE FIVE-YEAR ROLLING PROGRAMME ON TAKING OFFICE, THE CONSERVATIVES ARE NOW MORE THAN MAKING UP FOR THIS BY TAKING A 10 YEAR LOOK INTO THE FUTURE. BUT IT ALSO MAKES EXPLICIT THE GOVERNMENT'S OWN PRIORITIES. THE EMPHASIS IN THE GREEN PAPER IS ON CUTTING BOTH TAXATION ANDS THE PUBLIC SECTOR BORROWING REQUIREMENT (PSBR). IT IS THESE POLICY AIMS WHICH ARE SEEN AS THE REAL CONSTRPY: 1984

The goal of this article is to suggest that an extended family of Mediterranean welfare states exists and that it consists of eight different nations, some of which have been ignored in the ongoing discourse on Mediterranean welfare states. More specifically, it is claimed that the extended family of Mediterranean welfare states includes Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Spain, Portugal and Turkey. The article underscores a number of features common to members of this extended family of welfare states. Finally, three overarching themes that, in the past and present, appear to underlie the commonalities of Mediterranean welfare states and that can offer potential fruitful avenues for further study will be identified and discussed. These are religion, family and the role of clientelist—particularist relations in the structuring and functioning of welfare state institutions.

We study the political effects of mass emigration to the United States in the 19th century using data from Sweden. To instrument for total emigration over several decades, we exploit severe local frost shocks that sparked an initial wave of emigration, interacted with within-country travel costs. Our estimates show that emigration substantially increased the local demand for political change, as measured by labor movement membership, strike participation and voting. Emigration also led to de facto political change, increasing welfare expenditures as well as the likelihood of adopting more inclusive political institutions.