French Welfare State Reform: Idealism versus New Zealand and Dutch Pragmatism.

French Welfare State Reform: Idealism versus New Zealand and Dutch Pragmatism

James Angresano

Anthem Press: London, 2007, $80.00, 279pp.

Approaches to the welfare state have evolved from the 'social protection state' paradigm to the 'enabling state'. Based on 10 years of research and first-hand experiences, this work by institutionalist James Angresano makes a number of contributions to the existing literature on this subject. His motivation appears to be a strongly held belief that the welfare state has reached the limits of its financial sustainability and threatens to become a liability to economic growth and performance.

A trade-off between economic performance and sustained funding of the existing welfare programmes marks balancing act in the selected countries (Sweden, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and France). The choice made in each has shifted at different stages of institutional development. Public choices concerning continuous and extensive welfare have been influenced by the disincentive effects of reduced job creation and higher unemployment. But institutional resistance to reform of welfare, together with the impact of the international product cycle and other factors, has also shaped the evolution of the welfare state.

Angresano relies on mostly qualitative analysis of these issues, without econometric assessment, since he believes that econometrics offers little insight into the relationship between the long-term and short-term effects of welfare reforms. Instead, he offers descriptive portrayals and an assessment of individual countries' welfare state reforms and prescriptive policy moves.

Angresano's philosophical departure is the notion of varieties of capitalism, related to a diversity of welfare in scope of services and methods of delivery. Countries have differed in their response to the urgent need for welfare reform. The countries that have reformed welfare together with a major reconfiguration of labour/product markets have demonstrated better ability to reverse the negative trends. More radical reforms require readiness to accept initially meagre results and to complete reforms without yielding to populist sentiment. Sweden's initiative to educate expectations worked very well, for example. The experience of the Netherlands was reform by consensus and creative compromise that contributed to reform stamina.

Trade liberalisation in New Zealand has reinforced domestic competition and opened new venues for increased employment. In France, on the other hand, protectionist attitudes have persisted. President Sarkozy's aborted promises to reform the welfare provide a sorry example of yielding to social cohesion.

Angresano's methodology for analyzing reforms of welfare considers more than simple economic and financial constraints. It could, however, have benefited from a more extensive discussion of individual countries' behavioural biases based on differences in perception of collectivism and individualism and their general view of economic freedom.

doi:10.1057/ces.2008.50

Marina V. Rosser

James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA

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