The Marketization of Employment Services The Dilemmas of Europe's Work-first Welfare State

by Greer, Ian; Breidahl, N. Karen; Knuth, Matthias; Larsen, Flemming

• ISBN13: 9780191827365
• ISBN10: 0191827363
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2016-10-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Author Biography

Ian Greer, Senior research Associate, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations,N. Karen Breidahl, Assistant Professor, Aalborg University,Matthias Knuth, Research Fellow, Institute for Work, Skills and Training,, University of Duisburg-Essen,Flemming Larsen, Professor, Centre for Labour Market Research, Aalborg University

Ian Greer has been Professor of Comparative Employment Relations at University of Greenwich since 2010 and Senior Research Fellow at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations since 2015. Author of numerous articles on trade union strategy, public services, and marketization across Europe. He previously worked at Leeds University and in the US trade union movement.


Karen N. Breidahl is a political scientist and Assistant Professor at Centre for Comparative Welfare Studies (ccws.dk), Aalborg University. She is the author of a number of articles and book chapters on welfare states, labour market policies and migration in the Scandinavian countries.


Matthias Knuth studied sociology at the University of Hamburg, various positions in social research and research funding organizations, research on labour market and employment policy issues since 1990, doctoral degree 1996, habilitation 2004, appointed titular professor 2008, Chairman of the German Association for Social Scientific Labour Market Research since 2011, retired and remaining affiliated as research fellow 2016.


Flemming Larsen is Professor and Head of Centre for Labour Market Research (CARMA) at Aalborg University. His research focuses on labor market and social policy, both from a political science and public administration perspective. One major research topic has been international comparative research applying the concepts of flexicurity and transitional labor markets. Another important field of research is analyses of labor market and social policy reforms, studying changes (and trends) in policies, as well as the motives and consequences of introducing new governance and operational reforms (e.g. marketization). FL has participated in several international research networks and projects and has published widely internationally. See http://personprofil.aau.dk/101257 for more information.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Employment Services: Three Marketization Stories
3. Marketization and Transaction Modes
Appendix A. Contracting by Danish municipalities
Appendix B. Contracting on Britain's Work Programme, with Lisa Schulte
Appendix C. Vouchers and Contracting in Germany
4. Employment Services Sectors Under Uncertainty and Resource Scarcity
5. Employment Relations and Labor Process: Institutional Disorganization and Management Control, with Graham Symon and Johannes Kirsch
6. Governance Implications: Dilemmas and Tradeoffs
7. Conclusion