Challenging Neighbours de CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis

Challenging Neighbours: Rethinking German und Dutch Economic Institutions

CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis

en Limba Engleză Paperback – 20 aug 1997

Challenging Neighbours provides wide coverage of the German and Dutch economies, from an institutional point of view. Pensions, competition policy, labour relations, corporate governance, and health care are among the topics for which the institutional setting and performance of Germany and the Netherlands are compared. The difficulties and successes the countries have in facing pressures from aging population, developments in technology, and global competition are traced back to their institutional roots, and lead to mutual lessons for institutional reform for German and Dutch policy makers.

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1 Comparing German and Dutch Institutions.- 1.1 Motivation.- 1.2 Structure of the Study and Summary of Policy Options.- 2 The Interplay of Institutions, Trade-offs, Performance and Trends.- 2.1 Foundations.- 2.2 Coordination Issues: Four Types of Market Failures.- 2.3 Four Coordination Mechanisms.- 2.4 Issues and Mechanisms Combined: Trade-offs.- 2.5 The Impact of Trends on Institutions.- 3 Economic Development in Comparison.- 3.1 Economic Development at the Macro Level.- 3.2 Labour Market Performance.- 3.3 The Public Sector.- 3.4 Foreign Trade.- 3.5 Monetary Policy.- 3.6 Distribution of Income and Consumption.- 3.7 Conclusion.- 4 A Structural Comparison.- 4.1 Geographical Conditions.- 4.2 Energy Resources and Energy Use.- 4.3 Demography.- 4.4 Capital Stock and Investment.- 4.5 Transport and Communication Infrastructure.- 4.6 Environment.- 4.7 Regional Patterns: Shifts in German Growth Centres.- 4.8 Conclusions.- 5 Governance of the Socio-economic Order: An Economic Perspective.- 5.1 The Socio-economic Order.- 5.2 The Political System.- 5.3 Challenges for Reform.- 5.4 Policy Conclusions.- 6 Social Protection.- 6.1 Theoretical Framework: Market Failures and Trade-offs.- 6.2 Social Security in Germany and the Netherlands in the Mid Eighties.- 6.3 Reforms in the Netherlands.- 6.4 Trends.- 6.5 Policy Options for Reform: The Unfinished Agenda.- 7 Pensions.- 7.1 Market Failures and Trade-Offs.- 7.2 Pensions in Germany and the Netherlands.- 7.3 Performance of the Pension Systems.- 7.4 Trends.- 7.5 Policy Options.- 8 Labour Market: Institutional Environment.- 8.1 Analytical Framework.- 8.2 Employment Protection in Germany and the Netherlands.- 9 Labour Market: Institutional Arrangements.- 9.1 Collective Bargaining in Germany and the Netherlands.- 9.2 Vocational Education in Germany and the Netherlands.- 9.3 Co-determination in Germany and the Netherlands.- 9.4 Policy Options.- 10 Corporate Governance.- 10.1 Analytical Framework.- 10.2 Corporate Governance in Germany and the Netherlands.- 10.3 Trends and Policy Options.- 11 Science and Technology Policy.- 11.1 Analytical Framework.- 11.2 The Institutions of German and Dutch Science Policy.- 11.3 Institutions of German and Dutch Technology Policy.- 11.4 Trends and Policy Options.- 12 Regulation and Competition Policies.- 12.1 Theoretical Backgrounds.- 12.2 Sea Changes: The Impact of Trends.- 12.3 Regulation in Germany and the Netherlands: The Current State of Flux.- 12.4 Competition Policy.- 12.5 Assessment and Policy Options.- 13 Electricity and Gas Markets.- 13.1 The Shift in Thinking on Natural Monopolies.- 13.2 German and Dutch Energy Market Institutions: The Present Situation.- 13.3 Regulatory Reform.- 13.4 Conclusions and Policy Options.- 14 Health Care.- 14.1 Theoretical Framework: Market Failures and Trade-offs.- 14.2 Health Care Institutions in Germany and the Netherlands.- 14.3 Performance of Health Care Institutions.- 14.4 Trends.- 14.5 Policy Options.- 15 Concluding Remarks.- 15.1 Challenging Neighbours?.- 15.2 Strengths and Weaknesses of This Study.- References.- List of Figures.- List of Tables.- List of Boxes.- List of Acknowledgements.