Suchergebnisse

Structural Reforms (SRs) are increasingly at the core of the European and national agenda. But what are SRs? And what are the main factors shaping their content? This analysis of the structural reforms adopted, between 2008 and 2015 in five European Union (EU) countries - the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland and Italy - allows us to address these two questions. The book proposes a new definition of SRs, combining supply-side and more demand-side policy measures. An analysis of the five countries under scrutiny shows how a combination of EU constraints and opportunities, domestic path-dependency and political dynamics has resulted in different structural reform trends: while some countries have experienced an overall devaluation in social standards (e.g. Ireland), others have pursued more mixed strategies. What is more, SRs have gone through different periods. After a first phase of anti-cyclical measures, austerity dominated between 2011 and 2013. In more recent years, many countries have followed a more pro-growth strategy. The book provides evidence that the EU influenced SRs but lacked a coherent agenda to support growth. In such a context, different countries implemented different reform strategies, reflecting their (partly) diverging socio-economic models.

Based on more than 30 case studies in eight different countries, this book explores the governance dynamics of local social innovations in the field of poverty reduction. The diverse team of contributors reflects on the trajectory of social innovation in European governance. They illustrate how different governance dynamics and welfare mixes enable or hinder poverty reduction strategies and analyse how such dynamics involve a diversity of actors, instruments and resources at different spatial scales. The contributions are based on research motivated by the standstill in the fight against poverty in Europe and the anxiety that conventional macro-social policies are insufficient to deal with the current challenges