Social Models in the Enlarged European Union: Policy Dimensions and Country Classification

an article by Michael Knogler (Institute for East and Southeast European Studies Regensburg, Germany) and Fidelis Lankes (University of Applied Sciences – Munich) published in Comparative Economic Studies Volume 54 Number 1 (March 2012)

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on social models by exploring characteristics of social policies and their classification in the enlarged European Union.

The analysis is based on a set of social policy indicators with a focus on labour markets.

By means of Principal Components Analysis we identify four major dimensions of social policies to reflect the main tasks including a productivity-enhancing role. The dimensions are used as a basis for clustering countries into five different groups, that is, social models, which significantly differ from the commonly proposed regional classification of social models across Europe prior to enlargement.

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